An Exaggeration

Harris Campaign Manager Chris Meekins has an...er...interesting perspective on the endorsement of Governor Ehrlich.

‘‘It’s pivotal in the fact that Governor Ehrlich is the Republican Party in Maryland,” said Harris campaign director Chris Meekins. ‘‘It not only brings grass-roots support, but also a lot of his senators and his money people will be willing to open up their checkbooks.”

Well, there are two things here that just drive me crazy.

One is the fact that the party is bigger than one person. Bob Ehrlich is not the Republican Party an and of himself. And I think Governor Ehrlich would say that as well, considering he often thanked extensively those that supported the party and supported him during his campaigns.

Second, the concept that Ehrlich delivers Senators and money to the Harris campaign is unproven. A lot of people thought that the Governor's endorsement of Rudy Giuliani was pretty much the end of serious discussion regarding the support of Presidential candidates in Maryland. And it has been anything but, with a strong Romney organization, and a developing Thompson organization as well (though one that has been completely absent from here in Anne Arundel County). If the Ehrlich pull were as strong as the Harris team would like to think it is, that would not be happening.

The Ehrlich endorsement was a big get for the Harris campaign, but it is not the exclamation point that the Harris team thinks it is...