Kratovil for Congress

In Maryland's 1st District, the Democrat is the better choice to carry on Wayne Gilchrest's legacy of independence.

FOR THE FIRST time since 1990, voters in Maryland's 1st Congressional District, which stretches from the lower Eastern Shore to northern Baltimore County, won't send Wayne T. Gilchrest to Congress. In a bruising primary this year, Republicans ousted the nine-term House member known for bucking the party establishment, choosing state Sen. Andrew P. Harris (R-Baltimore County). Now, in a hotly contested race that has attracted national attention, Mr. Harris faces Queen Anne's County State's Attorney Frank M. Kratovil Jr. (D). Mr. Harris is a staunch conservative who would bring another partisan voice to Washington. Mr. Kratovil is an independent-minded moderate whom Mr. Gilchrest crossed party lines to endorse. Voters should elect Mr. Kratovil, a thoughtful candidate who will continue Mr. Gilchrest's practice of rejecting politics-as-usual.

The candidates differ significantly, both in temperament and on policy. Mr. Harris offers firm and finite answers to most questions; Mr. Kratovil allows for nuance and admits that he doesn't always have the solution. Mr. Harris opposed the $700 billion financial markets rescue plan approved by Congress. Mr. Kratovil espouses fiscal responsibility -- he would support "pay-as-you-go" rules to prevent budgetary excesses -- but is not doctrinaire. Mr. Harris, an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, would limit the government's role as a health-care provider, whereas Mr. Kratovil argues for universal coverage. Both candidates stress the importance of protecting the Chesapeake Bay from pollutants, but conservation groups rate Mr. Harris's environmental record one of the worst in the Maryland Senate. Mr. Harris was one of only five senators to vote against a 2007 bill that banned the sale of dishwashing detergent containing phosphorus, a top pollutant of the bay. He also has voted against tougher vehicle emissions standards and legislation to protect the Chesapeake shoreline from development.

Though both candidates have slung hurtful barbs, Mr. Harris has made the more deceitful claims. After Congress passed the $700 billion rescue plan, a local newspaper quoted Mr. Kratovil as saying, "We solved the crisis." Mr. Harris's campaign pounced on the quote, releasing a TV commercial intoning that Mr. Kratovil doesn't care about struggling workers. But Mr. Kratovil's full statement, as the newspaper later reported, was: "The bigger issue is, what do we do now? As I mentioned in my talk, in this country we oftentimes deal with a crisis, we solve a crisis but we don't always deal with the long-term issues that led to the crisis." Regrettably, the Harris campaign has continued to use the out-of-context version of the quote to assail Mr. Kratovil.

In a Congress likely to be controlled by Democrats, Mr. Kratovil would provide a welcome counterweight to the more liberal members of his party. First District voters have repeatedly rejected partisan politics by electing Mr. Gilchrest; they can do the same by sending Mr. Kratovil to Congress.