September 08, 2012|By Matthew Hay Brown and John Fritze, The Baltimore Sun
There are issues on the November ballot to keep Maryland activists in the state. Among other referendum questions, voters will decide whether the state will recognize same-sex marriage and whether its public colleges and universities will extend in-state tuition to some illegal immigrants.
And in Western Maryland, there's a competitive race in the 6th District, where Democrat John Delaney is challenging Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett in a congressional district redrawn by Democrats in Annapolis to give the party a chance at a pickup.
Much of the presidential contest, however, is being waged elsewhere. Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., honorary chairman of the Romney campaign in Maryland, went to York, Pa., last month to open a campaign office and plans more trips.
Ehrlich enjoys high name recognition in the York area, home to Maryland transplants and commuters.
Sen. Ben Cardin campaigned for Obama in Florida before the Republican convention, speaking at senior centers, private homes and campaign field offices.
"We'll do the same thing in Pennsylvania," the Maryland Democrat said. "We'll do the same thing in Virginia."
Although Florida voters might not be familiar with Maryland politicians, such campaigning generates media coverage, Cardin said, and tells voters that their state is important enough that the party is calling in leaders from elsewhere.
Miller, the Obama delegate, says she's spending so much time in Pennsylvania that she will likely have to vote by absentee ballot in Maryland.
Maryland Democrats gather at about a dozen locations each weekend for daylong trips into Virginia and Pennsylvania. Miller's group usually winds up in southern Pennsylvania cities such as York and Lancaster. She says that the northern part of the state receives volunteers from New York.
Cavey, the Romney steering committee member, said he is working with campaign officials in Pennsylvania to organize trips there — "very similar to what we did during the [John] McCain campaign [in 2008], deployed into certain areas as Team Romney in Pennsylvania sees fit."
Similar plans are under way, he said, for trips from the Washington suburbs and Southern Maryland to Northern Virginia.
And for those unable or disinclined to travel, both campaigns are employing technology to help volunteers contact swing-state voters without leaving home. The Obama and Romney websites include sections that enable supporters to log in and dial strangers with their pitches for their candidates.
"You can sit at home and you can make a hundred calls, and the national campaign can direct them any way they want to at any time," Cavey said of the Romney program. "It's a very cool system."
matthew.brown@baltsun.com
john.fritze@baltsun.com
twitter.com/matthewhaybrown
twitter.com/jfritze
Election guide
Find out about candidates for Congress from Maryland. Go to baltimoresun.com/electionguide201
Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts 
