Just as the slots referendum is shaping up as a bit of a proxy war between Martin O'Malley and Peter Franchot, so, too, is it a rematch between two of the state's top political hired guns, Steve Kearney and Scott Arceneaux, who are doing behind-the-scenes work for the pro and anti sides respectively.

Round 1 went to Steve when Scott's candidate in the 2006 Democratic primary, Doug Duncan, dropped out, clearing the way for O'Malley's eventual victory in the governor's race.

And Round 2? So far, by one measure at least, it's going Scott's way. According to campaign finance reports provided by the ballot committees on both sides of the issue, Arceneaux is pulling down $10,000 a month to lead the crusade against slots. And Kearney's getting...nothing? Yep, O'Malley's former communciations director is doing this one pro bono. Guess the boys over at KO Public Affairs must be doing OK in their new venture.

(Of course, when it comes to money, Arceneaux has been beating the pants off Kearney for a while. Scott pulled down $269,316.94 in his 14 months with the Duncan campaign. According to the state campaign finance database, Steve got 500 bucks from the O'Malley campaign once, back in September of '99.)

Andrew A. Green