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First lady hits campaign trail for husband

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Gary Smith⁄The Gazette First lady Kendel Ehrlich offers a serious pep talk to Charles County Republicans at a Wednesday rally at the Hughesville American Legion Post.

Kendel S. Ehrlich has carved out an important role in her husband’s re-election bid, traveling the state to plug the governor’s record on social issues important to women and families — education, health care, crime prevention and more.

But the former prosecutor and lobbyist for Comcast has also demonstrated a strong grasp of arcane policy details, which enables her to echo her husband’s stump speech on the budget, the economy and other issues.

‘‘To the extent that women and men are influenced [by me], great,” she said last week while walking through a Calvert County neighborhood with state Senate candidate Ron Miller. ‘‘Hopefully, I’ve touched a few people along the way.”

She’s also not shy to speak her mind, as evidenced by her infamous comments in October 2003 that she wanted to shoot pop singer Britney Spears, a statement she later recanted.

With Kendel Ehrlich’s counterpart in the race, Catherine Curran O’Malley, precluded from campaigning because she is a Baltimore city District Court judge, the first lady is a valuable asset in courting voters in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a nearly 2-to-1 margin and women are a traditional Democratic constituency.

‘‘She’s been well above the average in terms of campaign engagement,” said Herbert C. Smith, a political science professor at McDaniel College. ‘‘It’s atypical.”

The (Baltimore) Sun published a poll in September showing Robert Ehrlich had chipped away at O'Malley's support among women: 47 percent of likely women voters favored O'Malley, compared with 41 percent backing Ehrlich. A July poll showed O'Malley leading among women 46 percent to 35 percent, and a November 2005 survey had O'Malley with 50 percent support among women, with about one in three siding with Ehrlich.

Last week, Kendel Ehrlich crisscrossed Southern Maryland, a region that heavily backed her husband four years ago and could be pivotal again on Nov. 7. There, she spoke to Charles County teenagers at a crime prevention youth summit; cut the ribbon at a children’s mental health crisis center in Prince Frederick; campaigned with Miller, who is challenging Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach; and attended a GOP rally in Hughesville before dashing back to Severna Park to join the governor at an Anne Arundel County Bar Association dinner.

‘‘Bob and I, in the way we operate, we’ve always done this together,” she said.

The first lady’s background enables her to speak more broadly than apple pie and motherhood issues, said Melissa Deckman, a Washington College political science professor.

‘‘She’s good on the stump. She’s very articulate, very smart and she comes off softer than [the governor],” Deckman said.

Republican allies agree that the first lady is impressive on the campaign trail.

‘‘Maryland is so fortunate. We’ve got a 2-for-1 package,” said Del. W. Daniel Mayer (R-Dist. 28) of Newburg. ‘‘I have never seen a governor’s wife come into a room and project the same image and the same message as eloquently as he does.”

State GOP officials have floated her as a possible candidate down the line, and Ehrlich engages the competition like a seasoned politician.

She openly criticizes Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley’s record on crime and city schools.

‘‘Do you want to promote somebody who has done such a poor job on crime and education, the two most important issues in the state?” she asked a room full of Ehrlich backers. ‘‘... The opponent is all about ambition. You do the job you are elected to do and in seven years, he has not done it, so why would you promote him?”

Ehrlich also has high hopes for building the Republican Party in Maryland.

‘‘This is about making the party relevant for a long period of time,” she said, describing the importance of this year’s election.

The governor’s choice of Disabilities Secretary Kristen Cox as his running mate gives him a pair of female advocates to preach his platform across the state. Even Democrats acknowledge the first lady is invaluable to her husband’s campaign.

‘‘She is an emissary you really can’t beat,” said Gail Ewing, a former Democratic Montgomery county councilwoman who now teaches political science at Montgomery College. ‘‘It’s the next best thing to having the governor next to you.”

However, Ewing and O’Malley aides say the Baltimore mayor resonates well with women on his own.

‘‘I don’t think it’s a secret that the mayor and Democrats [as a whole] traditionally do better among female voters,” said O’Malley spokesman Rick Abbruzzese.

But if the governor can raise his stock among women voters, the first lady’s role could make the difference.

‘‘Kendel is a plus for Bob Ehrlich, there’s no question about that,” Smith said. ‘‘As long as she’s not talking about killing Britney Spears.”