Does Maryland Gov. Hogan come off looking rather dazed and confused to you?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

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I'm not going to be totally unfair to him, he hasn't reached Bush/Katrina levels of incompetence yet, but whenever I see the guy in interviews and press conferences, he just comes off as someone who appears completely unsure of himself and the situation around him. He doesn't seem to have a connection to the people of Baltimore and their concerns and emotions. Frankly, he looks like he just wandered into the situation clueless.

Contrast that to the previous governor and possible Presidential candidate, who returned from overseas and walked into a town meeting and seemed to immediately empathize with the suffering of the people he used to lead.

[brooklynite]

1. "As Baltimore mayor, critics say, O’Malley’s police tactics sowed distrust"

COLUMBIA, S.C.—Democrat Martin O’Malley weighed in Saturday on the national debate about policing that now includes the city where he was mayor, and where the police strategies he implemented provoked heated debate.

...snip...

“We have been seeing far too many tragic videos of police-involved deaths in our country,” said O’Malley, who became Maryland governor after serving as Baltimore mayor, and is considering a White House bid. “We have to make all our institutions more open and transparent.”

It was as a crime-busting mayor some 15 years ago that O’Malley first gained national attention. Although he is positioning himself as a progressive alternative to Hillary Clinton, O’Malley also touts a police crackdown during his time as mayor that led to a stark reduction in drug violence and homicides as one of his major achievements.

Yet some civic leaders and community activists in Baltimore portray O’Malley’s policing policies in troubling terms. The say the “zero-tolerance” approach mistreated young black men even as it helped dramatically reduce crime, fueling a deep mistrust of law enforcement that flared anew last week when Gray died after suffering a spinal injury while in police custody.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/as-mayor-of-baltimore-omalleys-policing-strategy-sowed-mistrust/2015/04/25/af81178a-ea9d-11e4-9767-6276fc9b0ada_story.html

Sometimes, empathy only goes so far...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. Perhaps it is true. That's something he'll have to address if he runs.

But in terms of leadership, the difference between the current and former Governors of Maryland couldn't be any more stark.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. +1 and . . .

It's apparent that your original post showed a clear and distinct difference between a Democratic Governor (executive position) and a Republican Governor.

The difference is clear. A Superstorm Sandy happens in October 2016 - I know O'Malley is going give a calm and cool outward appearance and still connect with people (as is apparent in that photograph).

[FSogol]

11. Other leaders in Baltimore remember it differently:

From a recent Washington Post article:

“What was positive was that there was zero-tolerance for criminals and drug dealers locking down neighborhoods and taking neighborhoods hostage,” said the Rev. Franklin Madison Reid, a Baltimore pastor. “Does that mean there was no down side? No. But the bottom line was that the city was in a lot stronger position as a city after he became mayor.”

Benjamin T. Jealous, a former president of the national NAACP who worked with O’Malley when Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013, credited him for supporting a civilian review board as mayor and for a sharp drop in police shootings that occurred during that time. Jealous said O’Malley’s “mass incarceration” police strategy is “a separate issue” than police brutality, and “a conversation for a different day.”“It was a period where a lot of mayors were doing whatever they could to try to reduce crime,” Jealous said.

and

Over the past year, as he has criss-crossed the country, O’Malley has talked about alleged police misconduct in places such as Ferguson, Mo. and North Charleston, S.C. On Saturday, he called Gray’s death “another awful and horrific loss of life.”
“Whether it’s a police custodial death or a police-involved shooting,” O’Malley said, “we all have a responsibility to ask whether there’s something we can do to prevent such a loss of life from happening in the future.”

Earlier this month, at a civil rights event convened by the Rev. Al Sharpton, O’Malley said his crime-reduction efforts as mayor saved many lives. “There are a thousand fewer black men in Baltimore who died violent deaths over the last 15 years than otherwise would have died had we not come together.”

[JustAnotherGen]

14. Good stuff!

Thanks!

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. Among other things.... i.e. clueless GOPer... I believe he's brand new to the job.

He started in Jan 2015, no?

So: dazed... yes.
Confused.... definitely.

[Unvanguard]

5. Larry Hogan is in an odd position, in several respects.

For one, I bet he never expected to be governor. His victory surprised everyone. For another, he knows he's in a deep blue state where the default assumption is that he'll lose reelection. It's meant that he's intentionally cultivated a moderate image, to his credit. But both of these together means that he's decidedly unsure of himself, I think. He can't rely on his conservative ideological instincts because that's not the governor he wants to be (given the background political constraints). And he didn't come in with the kind of surety and clear plans other politicians did, because I don't think he thought he had much chance of winning.

[hootinholler]

6. Nah, that's just how he looks

Don't be fooled by that he's a dangerous asshole.

[deutsey]

7. That was my first thought when I saw Hogan's press conference when all this erupted

I live in Maryland and my impression of Hogan is he's all about business and that's what he was assuming his tenure as governor was going to be all about. I think all this has completely blindsided him.

Like you, I'm not saying he's bungling anything and this is still very early in his term, so I'm cutting him some slack. But yeah, he hasn't done much to inspire confidence in me, either.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. To me, he comes off looking like someone who if he weren't governor of Maryland....

....wouldn't want to be within a million miles of Baltimore at the moment. His body language reads very uncomfortable.

Like you, I think he expected to be Maryland's CEO, not its governor. This is the fatal flaw of people who think government can be run like a business.

O'Malley's policies as mayor may indeed come under the microscope, but you do get the sense that he actually wants to be there for the city at this time.

[deutsey]

10. Agree

[LynnTTT]

8. To Be Fair

[it's lot easier to look cool and collected when you are not going to be held responsible. Although some right wing sites are trying to say it is O'Mally's fault because he didn't "fix" Baltimore when he had a chance.

[FSogol]

13. Some DUers are pushing that meme too. Nevermind O'Malley left the Mayor's office in 2007. n/t

[JustAnotherGen]

15. Some DUers are also trying to make it look like

O'Malley's at fault because he did TOO much to fix it.

This is not an oppressive guy -a nd those 'right wing sites' are most likely also laughing in glee (sick bastards that Republican types are) at the fact that Mr. Gray died such a cruel and inhumane death. Failing to note that they are also probably pissed that O'Malley lead the way to the end of the death penalty and signed off on it as Governor.

You can't win with Republican types - so don't get into it with them. They can make any narrative fit to their own narrow view of their little world.

[FSogol]

12. Hogan is a clown. He's just there to make concessions for the poultry industy. n/t