First in a series of occasional articles
Erin Triplett's life shifted in a flash. Within months, the mortgage loan officer earning six figures in commissions was out of work, scrambling to launch a small business from an Anne Arundel County townhouse shared with roommates.
Change came fast, too, for Bob Harris. The Washington County plant that employed him for nearly 35 years halted production in March, leaving him jobless for the first time since high school. A lean year lies ahead before he moves toward his vision of making a living laying bricks and planting shrubs.
Triplett and Harris come from different generations, different corners of Maryland and different professional backgrounds. But they grapple with the same challenges this election year: how to make ends meet and reconstruct their futures as economic upheaval roils around them.
Voters tell pollsters that the economy and energy prices are prime concerns as they decide whom to back in arguably the most compelling presidential contest in years.
Harris and Triplett are weighing what the candidates say and see a glimmer of help in their proposals. They would enjoy a break from gas taxes, as Republican John McCain proposes. They think President Bush's tax cuts for high-income earners should be reversed, as Democrat Barack Obama suggests.
But neither is counting on Washington to boost their bank accounts. They're skeptical that a politician can quickly fulfill pledges that would improve their lives. So as they regroup from losing stable careers, they are trying to control their own finances by changing driving habits and skipping restaurant meals.
For now, Maryland has avoided the brunt of the economic downturn and the full-scale pitch of the general election campaign.
In an overwhelmingly Democratic state that is expected to land squarely in the Obama column in November, candidates and their television ads are rare. The campaigns are targeting their economic messages in battlegrounds such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Missouri.
With a relatively wealthy state economy boosted by government spending, Maryland's 4 percent unemployment rate lies well below the national average of 5.5. The state is poised for growth regardless of who gets elected, as the military base realignment process brings thousands of well-paying jobs.
But unemployment is on the rise, swelling nearly a half-percentage point in the most recent accounting, and Triplett and Harris toiled in two of the worst-performing sectors - manufacturing and finance.
