Campaign Trail

Maryland is no stranger to movies and TV, but with the filming of the HBO political drama "Game Change" here, our small state has taken on its toughest role ever -- Alaska. Yet production designer Michael Corenblith and set decorator Tiffany Zappulla weren't intimidated. Challenged to film a scene at the Alaska State Fair for the docudrama about the 2008 presidential election, they headed to Six Flags America near Bowie. They found a rollercoaster that looks just like the one up north and tracked down a 9-foot stuffed grizzly from an antiques store in Easton to evoke the vibe of a real Alaskan midway.

Exiting his campaign-mobile for yet another appearance in the final sprint before Tuesday's election, Gov. Martin O'Malley asked aides a last question: "Do we have hope and dreams?" It seemed a strangely lofty query at a point when the campaign was all about the logistics — getting the candidate to multiple stops across the state to rally Democrats to the polls. And indeed, O'Malley's aim turned out to be more prosaic than poetic: making sure someone cued up the song he often uses to herald his arrival, Bruce Springsteen's "In the Land of Hope and Dreams.

WASHINGTON -- Howard Dean, struggling to save his presidential bid after crushing losses in Iowa and New Hampshire, shook up his campaign yesterday, tapping a close aide to Al Gore to replace the campaign manager who had orchestrated Dean's fast rise. The startling shift at the top of the campaign came amid signs that Dean, who just weeks ago was flush with cash and sailing along as the Democratic front-runner, was running out of money just before a flurry of costly primaries and caucuses.

BOSTON - Even before Americans have time this morning to digest and discuss John Kerry's acceptance speech, President Bush will board a plane and set off on a rapid-fire campaign swing through four battleground states, refusing to let his freshly minted Democratic rival monopolize the airwaves any longer. Bush's return to the campaign trail could not have come soon enough for the Republican faithful, especially those in Boston who have been drowning in news about the Democratic ticket.

For the past month, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown has been making news in the 2014 Democratic race for governor. His presumed chief rival, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, has been biding his time. Brown became the first big name Democrat out of the gate when he made his candidacy official May 10. He followed that up quickly with last week's news that Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, previously a prospective rival, has agreed to be his running mate. As Brown and Ulman celebrate their new political partnership Monday in Columbia, the question is what Gansler's next move will be. Does the attorney general have an effective counter to Brown's jack rabbit start and recruitment of a top-tier ticket mate?

Beginning this week, you'll find some changes on Page 2A of The Sun. Columnist Roger Simon moves to the page on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday, The Sun's foreign correspondents take you beyond the news in the Foreign Closeup feature. On Saturday, the page will feature national columnists Jack Germond and Jules Witcover, who will write from the campaign trail, along with a political feature by The Sun's national or state staff and a glance at the week ahead in politics.

Maryland opened its first comprehensive driving tour of Civil War sites Friday. The tour was created to interpret the events leading up to and following the Sept. 17, 1862, Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day of fighting in American history. The Antietam Campaign Trail covers 90 miles of scenic and historic roads starting at White's Ferry in Montgomery County and traveling through Frederick into Sharpsburg in Washington County. Bugle trailblazer signs lead visitors to waysides where interpretive markers contain both military and anecdotal accounts of the two opposing armies as they maneuvered toward their encounter on that fateful day in 1862.

The City College staff member accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old student had political aspirations, running for the Baltimore City Council three years ago. Ryan M. Coleman, 34, a City College alumnus who was hired as a contract employee and worked as a hall monitor and "dean of discipline" at the school last year, was arrested last month on sexual abuse charges, according to court records. He is accused of taking the student into his office, where he would "start to rub her back and side, ask her if she had a boyfriend and if she liked older men and was sexually active," charging documents said.

Maryland Democratic Party Chairman Terry Lierman said last night he is resigning to become chief of staff to House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer. He is leaving after 2 1/2 years and at a high point, having shepherded the Democrats to victory in last year's contentious U.S. Senate and gubernatorial contests. "We took back our state is what we did," said Lierman, 59. "And now I want to have a role in helping take back our nation." On Lierman's watch, Martin O'Malley defeated Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., and then-U.