Spotlight shines on Maryland's 1st District

Someday soon, Maryland's Eastern Shore may be known more for brass-knuckle politics than crabs, farms and scenic waterways.

A bruising primary race in the 1st Congressional District has given way to a brutal general election campaign, as Republican State Sen. Andy Harris and his Democratic opponent, Queen Anne's County State's Attorney Frank Kratovil, have been filleting each other like rockfish in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

Dr. Harris, an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins, grabbed attention in February when he beat nine-term U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest in the primary by more than 10 points, and appeared poised to sweep through to the U.S. Capitol.

But as the economy tanks and voters start leaning to the Democrats on the national scene, macro changes appear to be trickling down to the micro level.

One recent poll of 401 likely voters in the district showed Mr. Kratovil leading his opponent 43 percent to 41 percent, with 16 percent undecided, according to the Garin Hart Young Research Group.

The lead is within the margin of error - 5 percent - but

Mr. Kratovil's camp also is crowing about his latest fundraising results. The Democrat pulled in almost $603,000 in the third quarter, according to the Federal Election Commission, compared with almost $559,000 for Dr. Harris, although the Republican still leads the overall money race.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has started running its own advertisements attacking Dr. Harris' record and has placed the race in its "Red to Blue" list.

"I think it is clear the momentum has been on our side here in the last month or so," Mr. Kratovil said. "I always thought that this race was going to be close."

Dr. Harris remains confident.

"I think it's the national overlay (causing the close race)," he said. "We suspect the pendulum will swing back."

And history is on the Republican's side. Although during the primary there were about 187,619 registered Democrats in the district and 185,464 Republicans, Mr. Gilchrest won almost 70 percent of the vote in 2006.

The same year, all 12 counties that are at least part of the 1st District supported former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., over Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Dr. Harris went on the offensive against Mr. Gilchrest during the primary. The incumbent was painted as "liberal" and out of touch with his constituents.

"I represent the philosophy and values of the district," Dr. Harris said, highlighting his opposition to state budgets, including one of Mr. Ehrlich's, which increased spending beyond his comfort level. "I would be considered, in any state but Maryland, a very, very mainstream Republican," he said.

The "liberal" tag, along with "taxes" and "spending," are now being used in ads against Mr. Kratovil, who was endorsed by Mr. Gilchrest. Dr. Harris said his attempts to reach out to the incumbent after the election were ignored.

Mr. Kratovil is striking back at Dr. Harris - one of the most conservative members in the General Assembly and a consistent red light on the voting board - with ads calling himself "independent" and placing his opponent on the partisan fringe, saying Dr. Harris' record and "ideas are just way out there."

The larger pool of voters that show up in the general election, moderating the party bases that drive primaries, will open up an opportunity in the middle, Mr. Kratovil said.

"It's a very different electorate (than February)," he said. "I am hopeful that people will be able to see through that … name-calling and labeling without any factual basis."

Who said what

As in many aggressive races, the attacks from both sides can cloud who the candidates are and what policies they support.

This race is proving especially apt at that. Last week, for example, the campaigns revolved around misquoted remarks made by Mr. Kratovil at an event at Salisbury University.

An article in The Daily Times had Mr. Kratovil saying "we solved the crisis" on Wall Street, which was picked up by Dr. Harris' campaign and used in television ads to show how he is "clueless, liberal and very wrong."

The full quote, as corrected in The Daily Times, was: "The bigger issue is, what do we do now? And as I mentioned in my talk, you know, in this country, you 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."

Mr. Kratovil called the ad "unbelievable."

His opponent's campaign manager remained unconvinced.

"Frank Kratovil is just another liberal lawyer trying to parse words," Chris Meekins said in a statement. "Maryland families do not believe Congress has solved A crisis or THE crisis."

Conservative roots

Each candidate, however, brings policy as well as personality.

Dr. Harris maintains his conservative credentials, blasting the recent Congressional bailout plan as a "debacle," advocating for tougher immigration laws, wanting to abolish earmarks in federal spending plans and increase oil drilling.

The recent mortgage meltdown was helped by the convergence of public and private policies that politicized the basic business decisions of home ownership, the candidate said.

"The problem was we were neither government-owned nor private," he said. "(Businesses) almost had, in some ways, the worst of both."

In regards to health care, Dr. Harris believes a lot of the situation can be solved by being better consumers and treating health insurance like every other kind of insurance. Cost comparisons of medicine and procedures, coupled with plans that can be taken from job to job, will lead to improvements, he said.

"We don't make price-value decisions," Dr. Harris said. "We have consumer reports for buying a car but we don't have consumer reports for getting a heart bypass."

The Republican dismisses his consistently low scores from environmental groups such as the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, highlighting how their scorecards slant in favor of Democrats by including non-environmental legislation such as early voting.

"That's an environmental group with an agenda," he said.

Preaching current policies and praising past decisions is a mistake, Dr. Harris said, because none of it has worked. Until regional pollution-reduction goals are made mandatory and federal grants for leaving farmland untouched is more profitable than planting corn, nothing will get better.

"If Maryland does it alone, you can't succeed," he said.

Law and order

Mr. Kratovil makes a point, in person and on television, of how "independent" he is, and how he does not always stand behind the Democratic party line. For example, he notes that many of his supporters will probably end up voting for Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain for president on Nov. 4.

"I am running my own race. I am my own guy," he said. "I am certain that there are going to be many instances where I am not agreeing with the party line."

Policy is seen through the lens of prosecution for Mr. Kratovil, from increasing federal oversight to avoid another financial collapse to enforcing current laws on illegal immigration to stop rewarding illegal behavior.

"To say I'm conservative on illegal immigration is putting it mildly," he said.

In terms of the environment, surrounding states have to be involved, Mr. Kratovil said. More important is getting enough resources and targeting them efficiently to programs such as cover crops and wastewater treatment.

"It can't simply be isolated to the philosophical, 'let's be green,' " he said. "We need to recognize … (protecting the environment) is critical to the economic viability of this district."

And part of that fight will be earmarks, the candidate said. Reform and transparency is needed, but there should be no shame in standing up for funds to help beach replenishment and oyster recovery.

"I'm not an absolutist," he said. "My career as a prosecutor has taught me not to be."

One absolute is the country needs to recognize the importance of everyone having health care, Mr. Kratovil said. Although the system doesn't necessarily have to be single-payer, everyone without employer coverage needs to fall somewhere on a sliding scale of public care.

"We need to come to a recognition that having quality and affordable health care is a right," he said.

Back and forth

Elections are ultimately about differences, and neither candidate can talk for very long without bringing up a difference with the opponent.

Dr. Harris mentions how he supports drilling for oil in new areas off the coast in order to address the energy problems contributing to the nation's fiscal turmoil.

"What started this recession was energy," he said. "My opponent and I just clearly disagree on (drilling)."

Mr. Kratovil is open to offshore drilling, however, as long as oil and gas companies can make a good enough case for not exploring the millions of acres already in their possession.

"We never get to the facts," he said. "My answer is, 'not now,' "

Mr. Kratovil's unwillingness to support tax cuts or curtail spending is going to hurt Maryland families, Dr. Harris said.

"He is not willing to say … what the federal government really needs to do now is take a very careful look at tightening its belt," he said.

Like the drilling issue, Mr. Kratovil says everyone is in favor of tax cuts, but this isn't the time to do it.

"We should not be continuing with a straight face to tell everyone what they want to hear, so we can get votes, when the consequences of doing it are going to increase our federal deficit and debt," he said.

Eventually, Mr. Kratovil's campaign ends up back in the courtroom.

"If he were making the argument (I'm a liberal) in court, the judge would be holding him in contempt," he said.