Please Vote for Me -- Now Hold That Thought

In the Senate race, Ehrlich's lieutenant governor, Michael S. Steele of Prince George's County, is in the midst of an exploratory bid. If he runs, he is expected to have little opposition for the Republican nomination. His most visible campaign activity in recent weeks has been a fundraiser featuring Karl Rove, President Bush's political guru.

For the Democrats, in particular, the long run-up to the September 2006 primary creates some challenges -- namely, how to engage a public that is not yet ready to pay attention. Mfume, for example, has set up a blog on his Web site for supporters to exchange tidbits about his campaign. As of earlier this week, the most recent entry was from June.

Cardin has his Fair Shake tour, but other candidates have also employed gimmicks to market themselves in the early stages. In an e-mail to supporters, an Mfume adviser dubbed the recent months his "summer of hope."

Duncan has embarked on a "listening and learning" tour that will take him to all of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions. At a recent stop at the Crab Cake Factory in Anne Arundel County, he dwelled on his upbringing in a family of 13 children for as long as he did on any policy issues. Duncan has also been aggressively courting fellow elected officials, throwing parties at separate gatherings of municipal and county officials this summer in Ocean City.

And though neither is a declared candidate, Duncan and O'Malley have started talking to potential running mates. Duncan lunched last week with Del. Anthony G. Brown (D-Prince George's), and speculation about O'Malley's choice has focused on Glenn F. Ivey, the state's attorney in Prince George's County. Democrat-heavy Prince George's is expected to be a key battleground in the primary.

Like other candidates, O'Malley is using the early months to build a network of volunteers. The early recruits include Arnie Gordon, a retired Internal Revenue Service worker who grew up in the Bronx. Gordon spent much of a recent Saturday promoting the mayor at the Montgomery fair.

Wearing a sweat-soaked "Organizing Montgomery for O'Malley" T-shirt and a Yankees baseball cap, Gordon carried a clipboard and peddled neon-green O'Malley stickers to anyone -- including children -- who looked like he or she might take one.

"Congratulations," he proclaimed as the Fair Princess strolled by on the midway. "Would you like an O'Malley sticker?"

Later, Gordon manned an entrance, greeting fair-goers arriving on shuttle buses with stickers and copies of a Time magazine article that called O'Malley one of the nation's five best big-city mayors.

"It's almost like subliminal advertising, this early in the campaign," Gordon said. Almost no one is thinking about the governor's race, he acknowledged, but when the time comes, O'Malley will seem a more familiar name.

Cardin arrived at the event a few hours later. "Ben Cardin, I'm running for Senate," he said repeatedly as he made his way down the midway with an extended hand.

Most everyone was polite, but Cardin found himself having to explain to some fair-goers not only that he is running for Senate, but that he has been a Democratic congressman for 18 years.