Some in the StopSlots camp worry that the referendum could turn into a preview of what both candidates officially dismiss as a possibility but that many in Annapolis consider plausible: a primary contest in 2010 between O'Malley and Franchot.
In some ways, the two camps have faced off before, given that a number of those aligned with Franchot and Marylanders United to Stop Slots, a newly formed ballot committee, helped run former Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan's 2006 Democratic primary battle against O'Malley. David Weaver, Franchot's chief of staff, was Duncan's communications director. Scott Arceneaux, a senior adviser to the ballot initiative group, was Duncan's 2006 campaign manager.
Both sides say they don't want the debate over slots to become a contest of personalities, but it could be unavoidable, since both leaders are taking prominent roles in the effort.
Asked in an interview with The Sun's editorial board last week if he would campaign personally for the slots referendum, O'Malley said, "Yes. People keep asking me that.
"There are some parts of the state where people have pretty much made up their minds," O'Malley said. "There are other parts of the state where I'll probably have to be more engaged, like Montgomery County and Prince George's and so on."
Those counties happen to be the heart of Franchot's base and, for many years, a hotbed of slots opposition.
This month, Franchot took the lead in a conference call for members of Marylanders United to Stop Slots. It was his role in that planning session, and the fact that StopSlots was initially not let in on the chat, that brought the division between anti-slots forces into the open.
Meisner said he was eventually included on the call and that the initial exclusion of his organization would more rightly be considered as an "operational glitch" than an intentional dig.
Arceneaux said Meisner is one of more than 70 people who form a steering committee for Marylanders United to Stop Slots, which will hold an event sometime next week to officially announce its formation and supporters.
"We understand there's always growing pains when you're putting together campaigns like this," he said. "This campaign's about the issue of why slots are wrong for Maryland and not about any one person."
