Mr. Harris' campaign manager, Chris Meekins, says Mr. Kratovil's alliance with Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley will be "his Achilles' heel." He gleefully informed me that Mr. Kratovil had "23 pictures of himself with the governor on his Web site before the primary - and now, magically, they're gone." (Not to worry, says Mr. Meekins: He preserved those pictures before they disappeared.)
So the question is: Can a strong, Eastern Shore Democrat, running in what should be a somewhat favorable Democratic cycle - against a fractious Republican Party with an Ehrlich-backed, Baltimore-area nominee - make a contest of it?
The odds still favor Mr. Harris, a physician and pugnacious politician whose ideology and partisan affiliation give him a built-in advantage. But Mr. Harris shouldn't underestimate the home-region advantage Mr. Kratovil will have in this traditionally Shore-based district.
"The Western Shore already has seven members of Congress," says Mr. Kratovil, who is counting on his local roots to give him a boost. "The Eastern Shore should have at least one."
Understandably, both candidates are spending a lot of time on opposite sides of the bay. According to Mr. Meekins, Senator Harris spends "at least half" of his time campaigning on the Shore; Mr. Kratovil says he's already logged at least 30,000 miles in his hybrid Prius and convertible Mustang.
What's most intriguing about this contest to replace an avowed centrist is that each campaign claims the other guy is out of sync with the district.
"Overall, I think the district is a moderate district that wants people who are reasonable and moderate, and not an extremist," Mr. Kratovil told me. Similarly, Mr. Meekins calls the 1st a "John McCain-type district" in which Mr. Kratovil's liberal Democratic credentials won't sell.
The truth is both are partially correct, because whatever else disgruntled Democrats or conservative Republicans may think about Mr. Gilchrest, he really did fit the district well, both in his ideological moorings and personal comportment.
It's not clear who will win in November, but the big losers are the constituents about to say farewell to a thoughtful, decent and dedicated public servant after 18 solid years.
Thomas F. Schaller teaches political science at UMBC. His column appears regularly in The Sun. His e-mail is schaller67@gmail.com.
