Without a Doubt, Ehrlich Has a Way With 1 Word

Incessant Utterance's Meaning Not So Clear

Chances are, when Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has something to say, it'll be obvious.

One needn't spend much time with Ehrlich to pick up on his most enduring verbal tic. It surfaced repeatedly during a radio interview last week:

"Obviously, the economic signs are very positive," he told WBAL listeners as he discussed the state's $1 billion budget surplus.

About Joseph F. Steffen Jr., the longtime aide he fired after evidence of rumor-mongering emerged? "Obviously, a full investigation was completed," Ehrlich said.

And when talk show host Bruce Elliott asked about Vincent Gardina, the fired state worker who won a $100,000 settlement from the state after claiming he was dismissed only for his politics?

"Obviously, nothing can be discussed about that at-will employee situation . . . because the terms of that are closed and my lawyer, [Attorney General] Joe Curran, has instructed us we cannot talk about it. Clearly."

Things aren't just obvious when the governor is being put on the defensive, either. A search through news archives turned up scores of occasions when there was apparently little doubt about the governor's pleasure.

As when the Republican governor won his lawsuit in February allowing him to deny certain Baltimore Sun reporters access to state officials: "Obviously, I'm pleased." Or when the House of Delegates approved his slot machine gambling bill for the first time: "I'm obviously very pleased." Or the time lawmakers rejected a proposal to curtail his budgetary powers: "Obviously, it is a win, and we are very pleased."

Why is everything so obvious to Ehrlich?

That's not so obvious, said the governor's friend, Richard E. Vatz, a Towson University professor who studies political rhetoric.

Lots of politicians lean on certain verbal crutches, especially as they endure a seemingly endless succession of speeches and public appearances. President Ronald Reagan used the word "renew" all the time -- "renewed strength, renewed vigor, renewed vision" -- the professor recalled. For President Richard Nixon, the recycled phrase was, "It would be easy to do X, and that's why we do Y."

"He thought it would convey that he had political courage," Vatz said of Nixon. "All through his career, he had locutions like that."