Maryland’s legislature is facing real and growing problems. Our economy is stagnant, we face a $3 billion budget shortfall, and our fiscal outlook is the worst in 20 years. Our leaders will have to choose between honestly explaining why we can’t fund every priority and instituting a series of short-term fixes that obscure but don’t solve our problems. Depleting our rainy-day fund, aggressively raising taxes on businesses or adding to our debt are politically expedient but not useful in the long run. More than our other leaders, our governor will define the tone and substance of the upcoming debate. He frequently shows the ability to be the leader Maryland needs, but another version I’ve seen of Gov. Wes Moore gives me pause.

Moore has much to offer. He inspires as few politicians can and connects with people on a personal level. His intellect is powerful and his desire to achieve big things is unmatched. His military service was honorable. But Moore sometimes struggles to take responsibility in the way expected of leaders. He can be quick to blame our state’s problems on the previous administration, something common in politics but less convincing as Moore begins his third year in office. His failure to correct the record about a Bronze Star he claimed to receive in 2006 was unfortunate. Moore ultimately was awarded the medal last month, but he could not have expected to receive it years earlier when he failed twice to correct the record during televised interviews. Moore explained that it wasn’t his job to correct the interviewers, but it was his own misleading claim in 2006 that helped cause the confusion.

Moore’s refusal to take responsibility for the drama surrounding the proposed Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, until political pressure had grown, illustrates another instance of passed responsibility. Moore was right that he hadn’t caused the controversy, but his early statements acknowledging problems with the process should have been immediately followed by a promise to use his position to help find solutions. Instead, he seemed to distance himself from the problem when he said, “I understand the anger, but to direct it toward me doesn’t make any sense.”

Moore has sometimes engaged in destructive partisan politics. He rallied supporters of then-Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks by describing the campaign against former Gov. Larry Hogan as a “war,” a word perfectly at home in our partisan times but unfit to exist alongside Moore’s worthy appeals for decency and virtue.

His partisan instincts were visible again when Time magazine published a controversial article about benefits accrued by Hogan’s business while he was governor. Almost immediately, Moore declared at a campaign event for Alsobrooks that there were “a lot of answers that the old governor needs to provide.” Put aside his unusual and frequent use of the term “old governor” instead of “former governor,” a phrasing that seems to ooze with contempt. Focus instead on the speed with which he condemned Hogan’s actions. Contrast it with his reaction to Alsobrooks’ tax issues, about which he made no emotional demand that she explain herself. Moore would have been wrong to do so, and he was wrong to make the same emotionally charged demand of Hogan. He might have calmly called for an investigation into either issue if he believed it was warranted, but that’s not how he reacted. He attacked and belittled a political opponent while immediately excusing a political ally. I don’t believe either Hogan or Alsobrooks did anything intentionally wrong. But Moore’s immediate condemnation of one controversy and immediate dismissal of the other was telling and indicative of a particular type of negative politics.

Moore’s willingness to use negative messages to win political campaigns was further illustrated by his affiliated super PAC, ironically named Unity First, since it ran divisive ads accusing Hogan of being the first governor in Maryland history to earn millions of dollars while in office. Moore himself is a millionaire, with a particularly large investment in a company that specializes in marijuana products, a growth industry in Maryland and elsewhere. If Hogan was the first governor in our state’s history to earn millions of dollars in office, Moore will almost certainly be the second.

There were also problems with Moore’s rationale for supporting President Joe Biden following his poor debate performance against Trump. Moore explained, “I don’t do disloyalty,” as if loyalty to the president was more important than honesty with Marylanders. Loyalty is an admirable trait but can’t be the primary reason one political leader supports another. As Democrats, we can’t condemn Republicans for putting loyalty to Donald Trump above the truth and then engage in the same behavior ourselves.

Maryland needs Moore at his best. How he addresses our fiscal challenges will say much about who he is as a leader. If he blames others, engages in partisan politics, prioritizes loyalty over honesty or allows his involvement in national politics to distract from the hard work at home, Marylanders will see one version of Wes Moore. I hope to see the other Wes Moore, the one who accomplishes big things in hard times and inspires. That version of Moore will help navigate our state’s challenges, and just as importantly, show a positive example of Democratic leadership as the party reintroduces itself to the national electorate.

Colin Pascal (colinjpascal@outlook.com) is a retired Army lieutenant colonel, a registered Democrat and a former member of the Veterans for Hogan Coalition. He lives in Annapolis.