GOP wrestles over bid to oust Busch

by Thomas Dennison
Staff Writer

Sep. 24, 2004

ANNAPOLIS -- House Minority Whip Anthony J. O'Donnell's challenge to oust Speaker Michael E. Busch has officially fallen flat, so much so that the issue prompted heated argument at Tuesday's Republican Caucus meeting.

O'Donnell (R-Dist. 29C) of Lusby promised in a Sept. 9 interview with The Gazette that all 43 members of the Republican Caucus would back a Democrat in a bid to oust Busch. The charge came as a supposed slot machine agreement collapsed between Busch (D-Dist. 30) of Annapolis, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach.

Intraparty squabbles in Annapolis are a fact of life -- as evidenced by the bitter divisiveness in the Democratic caucus over slot machines and classic conservative vs. liberal issues. But Tuesday's blunt exchange among House Republicans was a rare crack in what has been an extremely disciplined caucus.

O'Donnell's challenge raised eyebrows and made headlines, but yielded few, if any, positive results: The 98-member Democratic Caucus immediately rallied around Busch; Ehrlich distanced himself; and some Republican delegates accused O'Donnell of acting unilaterally.

"I don't have a dog in that fight," Ehrlich told reporters this week. "Obviously it's the will of the House, but it's really the will of the majority party in the House and that's the Democratic Party. And the push for that, even the notion to remove a speaker has not come from the administration, we've had no part of it, hadn't even thought of it. So I'm really an inappropriate person to opine on it."

Dissension boiled over Tuesday when the caucus met privately. While accounts vary, several delegates said there were contentious, heated and -- some say -- loud discussions.

"I don't think I would use the word shouting, but there was some heavy discussion," said Minority Leader George C. Edwards (R-Dist. 1A) of Grantsville. "Just because you raise your voice doesn't mean you were shouting. We've had disagreements before. We had a good exchange of heavy discussion, which I think is healthy."

Del. Robert A. Costa (R-Dist. 33B) of Shady Side, a freshman from southern Anne Arundel County, took particular exception to O'Donnell's criticism of fellow Anne Arundel Republicans who spoke out against the move in Sunday's edition of The (Annapolis) Capital newspaper.

"I look at it as a delegate from Anne Arundel County and from the perspective as a former member of the Anne Arundel County Council, and I know how important it is to work with the leadership in the House and Senate," said Del. David G. Boschert (R-Dist. 33A) of Crownsville, who told The Capital and The Gazette that he was not wild about O'Donnell's statements. "We have a speaker from Anne Arundel County, and I can say from my perspective that I'm not one who is overjoyed at giving that up."

Boschert, Costa, Terry R. Gilleland Jr. (R-Dist. 32) of Linthicum Heights, John R. Leopold (R-Dist. 31) of Pasadena and Tony McConkey (R-Dist. 33A) of Severna Park were all skeptical of O'Donnell's challenge to the Democrats, The Capital reported.

Costa, in an interview Thursday, said O'Donnell criticized them for going off the reservation by talking to the newspapers. That sparked the argument, he said.

"We had a disagreement on partisan strategies," Costa said. "My message to Delegate O'Donnell was we may disagree on this, but I can't control what the press prints. Before you get mad at people, you should contact them individually and talk about it. He made it emotional and personal, so I defended myself."

Costa was quick to point out that while he and O'Donnell may disagree, he believes that O'Donnell's challenge was part of his role as minority whip. Tuesday's discussions were "growing pains," he said.

"There were no broken arms, broken legs or black eyes," Costa said. "We just had a good healthy argument -- just like any family has. Sometimes you need that to get things off your chest and get better focused."

O'Donnell called descriptions of the discussions as "heated" as overblown. He said members made their views known, the team is still unified, and he would not do anything differently.

"I give voice to not only the Annapolis insiders, but the people of Maryland," O'Donnell said. "I absolutely think it was the right thing to do. And I have to tell you that I got a lot of calls from people who told me, 'It's about time.'"

Edwards -- who, like O'Donnell, has been in charge for only two legislative sessions -- said there was agreement that the caucus would try to do a better job of communicating with each other on major announcements.

O'Donnell was criticized by some Republicans because he promised to deliver all 43 caucus votes to oust the speaker without discussing it with members beforehand.

"I don't think anyone with the right kind of mind who understands the numbers and understands the situation we were in really thought we could take out the speaker," said Del. LeRoy E. Myers Jr. (R-Dist. 1C) of Clear Spring, who took out a speaker at the ballot box two years ago. "There's a difference between reality and politics. ... I will say that we're still extremely unified."

O'Donnell agreed, warning that the Democrats' willingness to rally around Busch will backfire.

"I knew the Democratic caucus would rally around the speaker," he said. "They're willing to march off the cliff with him."