As Maryland legislative leaders await details of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's budget-balancing plan, some top Democrats are questioning why the ideas weren't implemented months ago when they could have helped the besieged candidacy of Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

Glendening met for an hour Saturday in Austin, Texas, with Republican Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., outlining ways to erase a half-billion-dollar shortfall in the current year's budget while leaving a surplus for next year. The governor said he would release the proposal after meeting with top members of the state House and Senate this week.

But several lawmakers said Glendening should have worked to improve the state's finances during the summer, when Townsend, his hand-picked successor, was criticized by Ehrlich as a member of an administration driving the state into a financial gully.

"I wish he had said that two months ago. We would have had a Democratic governor," said Del. Howard P. Rawlings of Baltimore, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "Leaving the deficit unsolved further complicated the charge that this government was fiscally irresponsible."

House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. of Allegany County said that earlier moves by Glendening "would have helped" Townsend.

"We Democrats allowed the Republicans to define our deficit as though it was a product of irresponsible tax-and-spend Democrats," Taylor said. "When, in fact, it was like in 45 other states, the product of a national recession."

Ehrlich became the first Republican elected governor in 36 years in part by accusing Townsend and Glendening of poor management that created what is now a projected $1.8 billion shortfall over two years.

Polls showed that Glendening's poor approval ratings were dragging Townsend down, and that voters believed Ehrlich was better qualified to handle the state's finances.

Former Townsend campaign spokesman Peter Hamm said yesterday that Glendening refused to make budgetary moves that could have blunted criticism of the state's finances.

"He was asked. It was always, 'We are going to wait until after the election,'" Hamm said. "His disloyalty to someone who was loyal to him for eight years was made crystal clear by his comments on election night. ... There were things he could have done to help her that he didn't do."

As Townsend conceded defeat Nov. 5, Glendening told a Washington Post reporter that hers was "the worst-run campaign in the country."

But a spokesman for Glendening said the governor made a commitment to allow whomever voters elected to take part in deciding how to plug the $500 million-plus hole in the budget that began July 1 (the governor's office and legislative analysts differ on the exact amount).

"The governor made it clear prior to the election that as a matter of courtesy, he would wait until after Nov. 5 to sit down with the governor-elect, and make the governor-elect a part of the process," said spokesman Chuck Porcari.

The first face-to-face meeting took place Saturday, during an orientation for new governors held by the National Governors' Association. Ehrlich called Glendening's ideas "solid," while refusing to discuss details before their public release.

"There are still some specifics to be detailed and defined," said Ehrlich spokesman Paul E. Schurick. "Bob's just glad that [Glendening's] finally taking some action on it."

Legislative leaders said they do not know how Glendening proposed meeting his objectives, although it seems likely that some combination of spending cuts and reserve funds would be used.

"I'd love to know what the magic solution is," said Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman of Baltimore, chairwoman of the Budget and Taxation Committee. "The problem is, it's so late [in the budget year]. We thought he would begin to close that deficit by taking action on his own. He didn't."

Political considerations aside, Sen. Robert R. Neall, an Anne Arundel County Democrat, said Glendening should have acted sooner to fulfill his constitutional duties.

"I've looked at it pretty closely," Neall said. "I'm not so sure there is an easy and painless way, unless it's short-sighted and irresponsible."

Del. Michael E. Busch, an Anne Arundel County Democrat and the likely incoming House speaker, said earlier moves by the governor would have been "a double-edged sword for Kathleen."

"If you go out and say you are going to cut state employee salaries, what incentive would that be for them to go out and vote for Kathleen Kennedy Townsend?" Busch said.

Ehrlich declined to comment yesterday on whether earlier budget moves would have helped Townsend's campaign. "It's not my discussion to have," he said. "It's an internal Democratic Party discussion."

Sun staff writer Tim Craig contributed to this article.