Please Vote for Me -- Now Hold That Thought

For Those Seeking High Office, It's Never Too Early to Campaign

A recent Saturday found Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin strolling past barbecue booths and sheep-shearing tents at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair, making small talk with strangers about the oppressive heat and spreading the word about his 2006 U.S. Senate bid.

The outing was part of the Baltimore Democrat's Fair Shake for Maryland Tour, a string of appearances during the late-summer fair season.

Cardin was flanked by supporters wearing T-shirts that proclaimed "Everyone deserves a fair shake," and he later mused about what his campaign would do with them after the tour ends in a few weeks.

An aide had a ready answer: "Use them again next year."

Indeed, before votes are cast in Maryland's next elections, another fair season will come and go. But Cardin is hardly alone in his early campaign maneuverings. The major candidates in both of Maryland's marquee races next year -- for Senate and governor -- have been running for months.

They are part of a phenomenon not unlike retailing, in which pitches for the December holiday season seem to start earlier each year. In modern politics, it is never too early to start a campaign, it seems. That was evident in the last presidential election as Democrats started making pilgrimages to Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two nominating states, just months after President Bush was sworn in.

In Maryland this go-round, "we're talking about a campaign that will take us through two Labor Days before people even get to vote," said Dan Rupli, a Frederick lawyer who is advising another Senate candidate, former congressman and NAACP leader Kweisi Mfume.

As campaigns become more expensive, candidates across the country are feeling the need to start raising money sooner. And as races become more sophisticated -- drawing on technology to boost turnout and tailor messages -- there is more for candidates to do.

In Maryland, there was added incentive to get in early.

Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D) announced in March that he would not seek a sixth term, creating the first open Senate race in Maryland in two decades. Mfume waited just three days to jump into the Democratic race to succeed him. Cardin made his bid official five weeks later.

In the governor's race, Democrats are eager to unseat the first elected Republican governor in a generation, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Although no one has officially announced a bid, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan are candidates in all but name. Both are raising money and moving around the state, trying to become better known outside their home regions. Both have hired campaign managers and other key staff members.

Ehrlich has not been as overt in his politicking, but it is clear that he is seeking reelection, as evidenced by fundraisers such as one last month that featured first lady Laura Bush.