Too Close for Kerry's Comfort

IN THE LAST FOUR presidential elections Republican candidates have wasted little time and money campaigning for Maryland’s 10 electoral votes. The state hasn’t gone in the Republican column since George H.W. Bush’s 1988 landslide. Al Gore carried Maryland by 17 points in 2000.

So no doubt more than a few eyebrows were raised when two new polls came out that show George W. Bush inching surprisingly close to John Kerry in the Old Line State. Last week, a Survey USA poll had the two candidates tied at 48 percent. This week, Rasmussen gave Kerry just a three-point lead and moved Maryland into the toss-up category. Before the Republican convention, the same Rasmussen poll had Kerry comfortably ahead, 54 percent to 41 percent.