The race for Governor in Maryland continues, with Gov. Bob Ehrlich trailing challenger Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. With campaign report filings due August 8th, we'll have a better picture soon of both campaigns' fundraising. Ehrlich is expected to have a large advantage in money. But how much O'Malley has raised will give a better picture of just how much the ad wars will continue to heat up.
More on flip....
This week's Baltimore Sun headlines:
O'Malley, Ehrlich make last-minute fundraising pleas
Candidates for governor and other state and local offices are scrambling to raise as much money as they can in the next three days to make a good showing before Tuesday's deadline to report on their campaign finances.
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"I need your help again Right Now to expand my efforts to counter the liberals' attacks and promote my record of accomplishment," Ehrlich wrote. "Your immediate response is especially urgent because Maryland Law requires my campaign to take a snapshot of how much money we have raised as of August the 8th. Showing a strong campaign fundraising report at this time is critical at this point in the election cycle."
Ehrlich, who could raise as much as $20 million for this election, is almost sure to have more cash on hand than O'Malley, but the size of the gap could be indicative of how well the Democrat will be able to counter a barrage of television advertising from the incumbent Republican.
Hint --> Here's the website: http://www.friendsofomalley.org Show O'Malley some love.
Ehrlich defends ads with wife, son
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. defended yesterday the appearance of his wife and son in television and radio advertisements promoting tax-free shopping after Democrats criticized their taking part in the ads in an election year.
Ehrlich, emphasizing that his wife, Kendel, has done similar ads before and was approached by a private group that picked up the cost, said the criticism was politically motivated.
"It's pretty clear what this stuff is all about," he said on WBAL-AM's Stateline with Governor Ehrlich. "It's a politicized year. Everything I do is viewed through the prism of politics."
Kendel Ehrlich has been active in the governor's campaign, speaking out on issues at political gatherings.
What the article doesn't mention is that O'Malley's wife cannot appear in commercials, nor can she campaign with her husband because she is a sitting judge and such campaigning would be a conflict of interest. Meanwhile Kendel Ehrlich has been heavily campigning for her husband...maybe even moreso than her husband.
O'Malley, Brown take on schools, criticism
Mayor Martin O'Malley's campaign for governor launched a 30-second television commercial yesterday promising to improve public education, a week after Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. began airing a spot critical of Baltimore schools.
While O'Malley relays a positive image in the TV ad, which will appear in the Baltimore market, his campaign simultaneously released a 60-second commercial on six Baltimore-area radio stations in which the mayor's running mate, Del. Anthony G. Brown of Prince George's County, attacks Ehrlich's criticism of city schools.
What the TV ad says: O'Malley, sharing the screen with scenes of schoolchildren, says, "strengthening middle-class families and increasing opportunities starts with quality public education."
"That's why my education plan will improve achievement by reducing class sizes, by getting a quality teacher in every classroom and by making sure that every school is a safe place to learn," he says. "Because every child deserves a chance to compete ... and Maryland deserves a public school system second to none."
The on-screen text says "endorsed by Maryland teachers."
What the radio ad says: "It's shameful to watch Maryland's governor attack the hard work and dedication of Baltimore's teachers, parents and students, when the facts show Baltimore's schools are making real progress," Brown says.
"The truth? Test scores for Baltimore schools are up, and graduation rates are improving. But it's no surprise Bob Ehrlich is attacking their progress, given his own failed record on education."
He says Ehrlich "broke his promise to fully fund our schools, and he cut millions in school construction."
Yes, Baltimore's schools are still failing. But they have been for decades. The fact is the graduation rates and the scores have improved with O'Malley as Mayor. And the Governor has not been fully funding Thornton, which is a fund for the state's schools, and that has been felt across the state. It's no secret who the teachers prefer.
Finally, today's Sun has an opinion piece on the use of wedge issues:
Edge from a wedge
Democrats are trying a tactic they believe worked for the Republicans -- but how powerful is it in fact?
Last week Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley sent a letter to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. asking him to support a minimum-wage increase - and then immediately told the press about it. It was a textbook dare, straight out of the Democratic handbook for this election season.
Many Democrats across the nation are convinced that George Bush was elected President in 2004 thanks to a single wedge issue: gay marriage. They believe ballot initiatives aimed at banning gay marriage in several states drew large numbers of social conservatives to the polls.
This year, Democrats are trying something similar with the minimum wage, hoping their unequivocal support for this broadly popular issue will draw like-minded voters to the polls and snatch away moderate Republicans.
There is a considerable debate over just how powerful wedge issues are.
A recent Pew Research Center report argued that same-sex marriage bans on ballots in 11 states in 2004 did little to draw social conservatives to the polls for President Bush. (The issue ranked dead last in importance among 19 issues included in a June 2006 Pew poll. And although nine of the 11 states weighing bans in 2004 went for Bush, the same nine did so four years earlier.)
In Maryland, there's even greater doubt over whether Democrats, who outnumber Republicans 2-1 in registration, can use wedge issues like the minimum wage to tip elections.
"It's hard to wedge Republicans because their base in this state is very small, and they've been so starved in a Democrat-dominated state for so long that they're harder to divide," said Thomas F. Schaller, a University of Maryland, Baltimore County political science professor, who is working on a book on the Democrats' national strategy. "They're so happy to have anyone who can compete."
Schaller said Democrats in Maryland are more susceptible to have their constituency divided on wedge issues "because they have a larger, more diverse coalition."
The classic wedge issue, argues Pew researcher and Executive Vice President Paul Taylor, is one that "draws more of one kind of partisan than another to the polls."
This so-called "intensity gap" exists on the gay-marriage and minimum-wage issues, according to Taylor. Of gay-marriage opponents, 45 percent rate the issue as "very important," but among those who favor it, only 27 percent view it that way, according to Pew polls. On increasing the minimum wage, 67 percent of Democrats rate it as "very important" while only 36 percent of Republicans do so.
What this means is that it's a safe bet that an initiative to ban same-sex marriage wouldn't lure droves of Democrats to the polls. The same principle would apply for Republicans on a proposal to raise the minimum wage.
Hence, this fall, same-sex marriage bans are on the ballot in Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin; and minimum wage increases in Missouri, Ohio, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada.
Whether any of these tactics can be used with success in this state is doubtful, said Carol Hirschberg, a Republican consultant. She gives the most credit to gay marriage, which, she argues, Democratic, but socially conservative, African-Americans oppose.
"I definitely don't think the minimum-wage issue would have an impact," Hirschberg said. "When there's under 4 percent unemployment in the state, there aren't many people making the minimum wage and even fewer people trying to support families on it. It doesn't appeal to anybody but unions."