By Michael D. Shear and John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, November 6, 2006

Two of the Washington region's top Republicans -- Virginia Sen. George Allen and Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. -- spent yesterday fighting off fierce electoral challenges that could stall their political careers and reverse GOP successes in their states.

Allen returned to the folksy approach that has endeared him to Virginians for almost two decades, tossing a football at FedEx Field before the Redskins game as he schmoozed with potential voters at a tailgate party. Later, he ditched a pair of brown Wranglers for a suit at an Ashburn event with former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Ehrlich mingled with volunteers at a Republican call center in Prince George's County yesterday afternoon, appearing relaxed and upbeat about his prospects. Afterward, he, too, campaigned with Giuliani, whom he called "wildly popular within the [Republican] party and with many independents and Democrats."

The Democratic challengers in those races also used the last weekend of the campaign to stir their supporters. In Virginia, James Webb campaigned in the southwest region. In Maryland, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley appeared with former president Bill Clinton -- something Webb is scheduled to do today.

Public polls showed both races locked in dead heats. Surveys by Mason-Dixon published yesterday had Allen trailing Webb by one percentage point and Ehrlich tied with O'Malley. Previous polls, including a Washington Post poll last weekend, showed O'Malley ahead.

The reelection bids by Allen and Ehrlich, along with the Senate race in Maryland between Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.) and Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R), are crucial to national and local political efforts. The Senate races could decide which party controls that chamber of Congress. But the election tomorrow also will offer fresh evidence of political trends in the Washington region, where Allen, Ehrlich and Steele have created a resurgence in their states' parties. Losses by any of them -- particularly incumbents Allen or Ehrlich -- would raise questions about the future of the GOP in their respective states.

Webb, for his part, finished a two-day swing through the rural communities of southwest Virginia with former Nebraska senator Bob Kerrey (D) and the president of the United Mine Workers union. The last-minute blitz in the "Fightin' Ninth" congressional district has become a Democratic tradition in Virginia.

Webb will wrap up his campaign with a rally in Alexandria with Clinton.

O'Malley also was betting on Clinton's popularity in the largely Democratic Free State. He held a boisterous, late-night rally with the former president that drew more than 1,000 people to Prince George's.

Earlier, O'Malley was joined on the campaign trail by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, the latest big-city mayor to testify to O'Malley's national reputation as an effective reformer. Today he is scheduled to appear with former vice president Al Gore in Montgomery County.

Steele campaigned in churches and gave an interview on Fox News Channel, hoping to catch up to Cardin in what polls suggest is a tightening race. Cardin joined O'Malley at the Clinton rally and also campaigned at churches yesterday.

The former president and former New York mayor were the top draws this weekend, helping to swell crowds and whip passions for an election that voting officials say already promises larger-than-usual turnout.

"This isn't a time for experimentation and for turning back the clock, which is what George's opponents want to do," Giuliani told the crowd of about 200 in Ashburn. "President Bush and the Republican Party have decided we're going to be on offense, and George Allen understands that."

Giuliani had a similar message for Ehrlich supporters: "He is a darn good governor, and he's doing a very good job," Giuliani, a possible 2008 presidential contender, told a crowd of about 200 at a firehouse in Prince George's. "You don't turn the clock back."

Hours later, on the other side of the partisan divide, Clinton arrived at an ornate reception hall of a church in the same county, a majority-black jurisdiction that is home to more Democrats than any other county in Maryland.

"I wanted to be here because I know Ben Cardin, I know Martin O'Malley, and I know what's going on in this country," Clinton said. "There are people all over America who would give anything to have people like this to vote for."

In two days, the candidates will know their fate: Win or lose. In or out. Staying or leaving.

With all three races very close, political parties in both states wonder what message voters will send tomorrow. Wins by Cardin and O'Malley in Maryland would confirm basic assumptions about the state's Democrat-leaning electorate. Victories by Ehrlich and Steele would go a long way toward ushering in a true two-party system in a state where registered Democrats have long outnumbered Republicans 2 to 1.

Conversely, a victory by Webb in Virginia would cement his party's resurgence in a state that has been considered a conservative stronghold since the early 1990s -- when Allen won the gubernatorial election. A win by Allen, despite a bruising campaign, would offer a reminder of the state's core leanings.

"You have this changing dynamic in Virginia that the Democrats have been pretty good in adjusting to," said Robert D. Holsworth, director of the Center for Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University. "Even if Allen wins, the very close nature of this race will have to lead them to think about how they adjust the message."

In Virginia yesterday morning, Allen taped a two-minute paid television spot that will air tonight in major markets across Virginia. In it, Allen will appear with Sen. John W. Warner (R), one of the state's most respected politicians, and talk about the war in Iraq.

Then, it was onto FedEx Field for tailgate festivities before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins. Allen's father and namesake was a Super Bowl-winning Redskins coach.

"I think he's gotten a bum deal on all of these ads criticizing him," said Ryan Travers, 32, a sales manager from Richmond. "They've been crazy negative."

"Good luck! Go get 'em!" another man yelled. Thomas Robinson, 33, a businessman from Haymarket, said he's voting for Allen, too. "I like to deer hunt, and I like his views," Robinson said.

Allen used football analogies to describe his fight against Webb. "We're focused," Allen said. "In football you learn that if you get knocked down, you get back up."

Hundreds of miles away, Webb sounded increasingly confident as he hammered his campaign themes of creating a diplomatic solution to the Iraq war, bridging the gap between the rich and poor, raising the minimum wage, closing corporate tax loopholes and fighting for fair trade.

"You have given your loyalty, and you will have my loyalty, and I will work to bring fairness back to the economic system," Webb told about 150 supporters in Grundy, including dozens of current and retired coal miners.

Kerrey, who like Webb is a Vietnam War combat veteran, told the crowd that Webb "will put the law on the side of wages, health benefits and pensions."

"Jim has never forgotten it's important to live by those three words: family, honor, country," Kerrey said. "It's not phony for him."

In Big Stone Gap, Webb also sharpened his critique of Bush's policies and predicted the White House will face aggressive questions from a Democratic Congress.

"If you all help us, if we get out the word, on Wednesday morning the White House is going to wake up, and they are going to look out over the Capitol building and say, 'We've got a problem,' " Webb said.

In Maryland, O'Malley said he hoped the Clinton rally and an ad featuring the former president would help counter months of attacks on his record.

"With the Republican Governors Association coming in and spending all that money, going negative and trashing a record of accomplishment in Baltimore, it's nice to have someone who's known and respected come in and tell it like it is," O'Malley said.

Both races in Maryland could hinge on turnout in Prince George's -- a point several speakers tried to drive home at last night's rally.

"It's not about strategy anymore," Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) told a racially diverse crowd waving O'Malley and Cardin placards. "It's about your heart. Do you want this victory more than they want it?"

In Maryland's Senate race, Steele made time Sunday for an interview on Fox News, in which he continued to present himself as a populist, in touch with "real life" and independent of both parties.

When asked by host Chris Wallace why blacks in Maryland should vote Republican when the balance of power in the Senate is at stake, Steele said, "I'm not asking them to vote Republican."

"I've not come to them as a Republican or a Democrat, as an African American or anything other than who I am," Steele said from the parking lot of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden. "Someone who believes in public service, who wants to go to Washington to try his best to make a difference in a town that has forgotten where people live and how they live."

Cardin and his wife, Myrna, traversed Prince George's yesterday morning, attending services at three African American churches.

Later in the day, he spoke at a Potomac synagogue before heading back to Prince George's to pump up volunteers at a VFW hall and to meet up with Clinton and O'Malley.

In the District, candidates for the competitive race for the Ward 6 seat on the D.C. Council concentrated most of their efforts in and around Capitol Hill, where turnout is usually high on Election Day.

Democratic nominee Tommy Wells hit the church circuit, knocked on doors and held a rally with volunteers. Will Cobb, who is running as an independent, met voters outside Eastern Market in the morning. Republican nominee Tony Williams could not be reached for comment.

Staff writers Ann E. Marimow, Chris L. Jenkins, Lisa Rein, Tim Craig, David Nakamura and Elissa Silverman contributed to this report.