Gov. Robert Ehrlich has a new job as a hotel desk clerk and bellhop, at least in a new television commercial set to air in June.
Ehrlich and former Democratic Gov. Marvin Mandel appear in the new spot encouraging beachgoers to “go early and stay late” to avoid traffic delays on the Bay Bridge and take advantage of the sights of the Eastern Shore.
Ehrlich is pictured behind a hotel counter offering a family advice on their summer vacation. Mandel makes a cameo appearance as a vacationer in a bright Hawaiian shirt asking Ehrlich to help him with his luggage. “For the average citizen, this [traffic on the Bay Bridge] is a quality-of-life issue,” Ehrlich said. “In the past, we didn?t have the technology; now we have the technology.”
Last summer, the governor and the Maryland Transportation Authority rolled out the pre-paid electronic E-ZPass to offer drivers a quick way to get through the bridge?s toll plaza, notorious for backing up traffic. The authority also created a real-time hot line to provide travelers with updated traffic information.
Ehrlich said the state willsoon detail a campaign to encourage drivers to take it easy on the bridge in an effort to reduce accidents and delays.
An estimated 25.8 million vehicles crossed the double-span bridge in fiscal 2004, according to the transportation authority. With the election season heating up along with the temperatures, Ehrlich said he would continue to air the E-ZPass commercial as long as his legal counsel approved. The General Assembly approved language this session barring candidates from appearing in state-financed promotional ads while actively running for office.
“I will not abide by a different set of rules, one for Democrats and one for Republicans,” Ehrlich said. “We will not abide by small partisan rules implemented by small partisan people.”
