Martin O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese pushes back against a Sun editorial, "O'Malley's Reckless Slots Politics," that slams the governor for backing a referendum against a slot-machine parlor at Arundel Mills mall. "Mr. O'Malley has recently publicly supported the referendum and has indicated that he will seek to make an issue of Mr. Ehrlich's ties to the effort to bring slots to the mall," the Sun said, saying the move "smacks of political opportunism."

Abbruzzese says O'Malley has always preferred slots to be at the horse tracks, offering as evidence a piece in the Sun from October that said: "Gov. Martin O’Malley has said repeatedly that he would prefer to have slots at horse tracks, where patrons already are allowed to gamble. He has publicly urged the County Council to act - either for or against the mall project - saying that the slots program needs to move forward." Also, a Washington Post piece from the same time said: "Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) said Friday that he 'will not be angry' if a local zoning decision sinks the state's largest proposed slots casino at Arundel Mills mall."

Maybe not being being angry about a defeat for Arundel Mills slots is not the same thing as publicly sympathizing with the people trying to defeat Maryland's best, largest hope for significant slots revenue anytime soon. Here's O'Malley in the WP a few days ago:

"I can certainly understand why the people of northern Anne Arundel County would prefer not to have a slots emporium at a mall in a residential area," O'Malley said in an interview. "If I lived there, I'd rather see it at a racetrack."