Nationally funded TV ads multiply in Md.

Published September 21, 2010 4:00am ET



The national Democratic Governors Association promptly answered anti-O’Malley TV ads with an ad painting former Maryland governor Bob Ehrlich as a bastion of big business interests.

“For the last four years [Ehrlich] worked as a hired gun for big corporations, even a bank that took billions form a taxpayer-funded bailout,” warns the ad, which began airing across the Washington region Wednesday.  ”Ehrlich sides with corporate executives again and again and again.”

Gov. Martin O’Malley is the vice chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.

The ad hit the air less than 24 hours after the Republican Governors Association released an ad criticizing a bill Gov. Martin O’Malley signed in 2007 that enacted a number of tax increases. The Republicans’ ad also accuses the O’Malley administration of doubling unemployment and driving thousands of businesses out of the state.

Both national governors groups have committed to funneling millions into the Maryland governor race, which polls are showing is neck-and-neck.

The DGA’s ad reads:

Four 
years 
ago, 
Bob 
Ehrlich 
got 
fired 
as 
Governor
 of
 Maryland — for
 good
 reason.
First, 
he 
protected 
tax 
loopholes 
for 
giant 
cable 
companies.
Then,
 he
 let 
utilities 
jack 
up 
our 
rates 
72 percent. And
 for 
the 
last 
four 
years, 
he 
worked 
as 
a 
hired 
gun 
for 
big
 corporations, 
even 
a 
bank
 that 
took 
billions 
from 
a 
taxpayer
 funded
 bailout.
Ehrlich 
sides 
with 
corporate 
executives 
again 
and 
again 
and
 again.
Tell
 Bob 
Ehrlich: 
Big 
banks 
and 
billionaires 
don’t 
need 
help.
 Middle-
class 
Marylanders 
do.