LAST FALL, conventional wisdom had Maryland’s lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend coasting to the statehouse to succeed Gov. Parris Glendening. She had already raised a campaign war chest and her name recognition was close to 100 percent. Adding to the air of inevitability was the fact that no Maryland Republican has been elected governor since 1968 and only one Kennedy has ever lost a general election (Townsend herself in a failed congressional bid in 1986, when she ran simply as Kathleen Townsend). In September 2001, a Gonzales/Arscott poll confirmed that if the election had been held then, she would have trounced Republican challenger Rep. Bob Ehrlich, 54 to 31 percent.
But as Townsend hit the campaign trail over the summer, her numbers gradually slipped, until yesterday’s Baltimore Sun delivered surprising news: Despite her efforts to paint Ehrlich as “too conservative for Maryland” and the recent outcry over his gun-control record in the wake of the sniper attacks, Townsend’s early lead has evaporated. She now trails Ehrlich 44 to 48 percent.
