Running Mates Take Messages to TV

Kristen Cox's ad highlights Ehrlich's style. (Gerald Martineau - The Washington Post)

Kristen Cox, the running mate of Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., is front and center for the first time in a television ad that started airing yesterday in the Washington and Baltimore media markets.

In the 30-second spot, Cox, who is blind, touts the Republican incumbent's establishment of a Cabinet-level Department of Disabilities, which she leads. She calls Ehrlich "a leader and a visionary" on state funding of stem cell research -- a characterization Democrats are certain to dispute.

And Cox closes with this assessment of her boss: "Part of what attracts me to Governor Ehrlich is that he believes that everyone, regardless of their race, their age, their disability, how poor they are, how rich they are, have something to contribute."

With the ad, Ehrlich appears to have just edged his Democratic challenger, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, in showcasing his running mate on TV. O'Malley aides said the mayor has a spot in the works touting Del. Anthony G. Brown (D-Prince George's) that will mention Brown's work as majority whip in the House of Delegate as well as his stint in Iraq as an Army Reservist.

Both O'Malley and Ehrlich have obvious incentives to remind voters of their lieutenant governor picks.

Brown is the only nonwhite member of the Democrats' statewide ticket in a year when minority turnout could be key to the outcome. Brown is the son of a Jamaican father and Swiss mother. Meanwhile, some polls have shown Ehrlich struggling for support among female voters. His choice of someone who has overcome adversity is also "part of a paradigm for what I want to represent," Ehrlich said last week.

'Lost Cause' to GOP?

---

Maryland Democrats gleefully pointed yesterday to e-mail from the Republican Governors Association that identifies six states to which the organization is sending volunteers because contests there are "going down to the wire." Maryland, where polls continue to show Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) leading Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), is not one of them.

The e-mail is evidence that Republicans consider Maryland "a lost cause," said O'Malley spokesman, Rick Abbruzzese .

Ehrlich spokeswoman Shareese DeLeaver said Ehrlich would appreciate volunteer help in a state in which registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1. But, she said, "grass roots has always been the heart and soul of Bob Ehrlich's campaigns."

A Debate Over Debates

---

Maryland's two leading candidates for governor are scheduled to meet Saturday for their first -- and probably only -- televised debate. But Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s campaign made it appear yesterday that they had agreed to get together a little sooner -- until Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley reneged.

An Ehrlich news release said the Republican incumbent planned to appear last night in the studios of a Salisbury, Md., station to "honor [a] debate commitment." During negotiations in recent weeks, the campaigns had tentatively agreed to attend a debate hosted by the station, but a date was never nailed down, O'Malley aides said.

As a result, the station is airing separate interviews with the candidates. The mayor is to appear next week.

"This is a blatant attempt to mislead the public," said O'Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese, who was peppered with questions about the issue yesterday at a forum on mental health issues attending by O'Malley and Ehrlich's running mate, Kristen Cox.

The scheduling of debates was also a source of controversy yesterday in the U.S. Senate race. Third-party candidate Kevin Zeese accused Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) of backing out of a radio debate this morning on WOLB-AM in Baltimore.

Larry Young, the host of the show, said his producer offered the candidates several dates. Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) was free today, and Cardin was available tomorrow.

Young said it was his call to bring the candidates in separately, instead of trying to find a date that worked for all three.

Steele and Zeese -- who has the backing of the Green, Libertarian and Populist parties -- will be interviewed this morning, and Cardin will be on the air tomorrow. To see all three candidates at the Greater Baltimore Urban League debate last week, check out Zeese's video of the event on his Web site .

Staff writer Ann E. Marimow contributed to this report.