Tuesday is the deadline for reporting campaign contributions in state races. Candidates haven?t had to file a report since January, while federal candidates have submitted two detailed statements since then.
Gov. Robert Ehrlich, who has millions in the bank, told supporters in an e-mail Wednesday that “showing a strong campaign fundraising report at this time is critical.”
His July 26 e-mail to backers was more plaintive: “I?m locked in a very close contest with Martin O?Malley. ? I need your help again Right Now. ? I am the underdog in this race.”
Both letters are sprinkled with the usual red meat for GOP contributors: “biased media,” “liberal monopoly” and “the arrogance of the Annapolis machine.”
Ben needs bucks
The fundraising pleas also come from the left. Ken Morley, manager of Ben Cardin?s Senate campaign, tried to shake the money tree by telling supporters that “multimillionaire Josh Rales ? will spend over $5 million of his personal funds on television ads.” Rales? ads are flooding the airwaves, and yet Cardin, who has raised $4.8 million ? $1 million more than all his opponents combined ? has yet to put up any ads, despite a tight primary race with Kweisi Mfume.
Ehrlich?s deception
Ehrlich pretty much admitted he?s run deceptive TV ads. No, not his campaign ads, those old tourism spots. “People think I?m going to show up and mow their lawn,” he told a group of tourism types at the Baltimore Museum of Art on Tuesday. “Heck, I don?t mow my own lawn,” even when he owned a home in Timonium.
Yellow Journalism
History prof Allan Lichtman wanted to ride around the state in a yellow school bus to emphasize that, if elected, he would be the only career educator in the Senate. Buthe found out school bus yellow is verboten for a campaign vehicle, unless it really is a school bus. “We repainted it a different shade of yellow,” Lichtman said.
No Stunts Here
While Ehrlich?s spinners malign O?Malley?s “daily routine publicity stunts,” the governor is just being, well, gubernatorial. “My daily schedule hasn?t changed since 2003,” Ehrlich said Tuesday, after handing out grants to arts organizations. He?s never stopped campaigning, Democrats have consistently said.
Monday he was saving the Bay with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine; Wednesday he was conducting a Cabinet tour of western Maryland; Thursday he was parceling out grants in southern Maryland. There hasn?t been a public “campaign” event in weeks. They?re all “official” business, put on by staff.
Democrat Party Chairman Terry Lierman snipes: “Maryland?s working families are paying higher taxes so Ehrlich can stage taxpayer-funded photo ops.” Democrats are getting a taste of how Republicans must have felt all those years Democratic incumbents were running for re-election.
Lazarick is the chief of the Baltimore Examiner?s Statehouse bureau. E-mail [email protected]
