Kendel Ehrlich

Gov. Martin O'Malley has challenged former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, who begins a quest today to get his old job back, to an hourlong debate this Saturday on Ehrlich's WBAL radio show. But Ehrlich, a Republican, rejected the terms and offered his own conditions, which the Democratic governor found unacceptable. Ehrlich's campaign requested a "simple one-hour discussion" with the governor, while O'Malley's side wants a "true debate." Tuesday's debate about the debate unfolded this way: O'Malley made his proposal through his campaign e-mail and his Facebook page.

Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. starts his comeback run today on the outskirts of the nation's capital, where his one-time protege, Michael S. Steele, is getting loads of unflattering attention. Ehrlich and Steele came to power in Annapolis as a team - and it's hard to imagine Steele becoming the best-known Maryland Republican in the country if Ehrlich hadn't put him on the ticket in 2002. But it could be even more surprising if Ehrlich mentions Steele in his announcement speech, after the pounding the national Republican chairman has been taking over the party's spending habits.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. told listeners of his WBAL radio talk show Saturday that he will stay behind the microphone until July, when he officially files his candidacy with the state elections board. "BAL has asked, and we've agreed that I stay on this show ... until [I] become an official candidate," Ehrlich told listeners at the start of the two-hour "Bob and Kendel Ehrlich Show." "And that's when under the law, I guess, you become a formal candidate.

Regarding the article "Ehrlich missed being in the arena" (March 28), it's always been apparent that Kendel Ehrlich wanted it more that her husband. Maybe she should run. L. Wilson

I found Julie Bykowicz's March 28 article about the Ehrlichs quite interesting up until the moment I saw one of the pictures that was chosen by the editors to accompany the article ("Ehrlich misses being in the arena"). Others in my family independently had the same reaction after seeing this picture. I would like to know how many other pictures taken of Kendel Ehrlich at work behind the microphone at the radio station were discarded before the editors chose the most unflattering one of all?

Maryland's last governor, who followed two decades in elected office by opening a Baltimore branch of a law firm and hosting a radio talk show, is tired of life on the sidelines. Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s daily routine has, in recent months, become increasingly like a campaign. Within weeks, many expect he will announce that he'll run against Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat who defeated him in November 2006. "I have missed being part of the debate. I have been frustrated by the policy decisions in Annapolis and on Capitol Hill," Ehrlich said.

In April, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s message to fellow Republicans in Howard County, delivered by his wife, Kendel, was a plea for guidance and support as he pondered another run for the Maryland state house. "This is all about you," Kendel Ehrlich told a packed Lincoln Day party dinner six months ago. "You need to tell Bob Ehrlich what you want him to do." Now those Republicans in this key political barometer county are cajoling, chanting, almost demanding that Ehrlich run for governor again against Democrat Martin O'Malley, but he is still not willing to commit, or even set a deadline.

While political junkies gossip about the possibility of a comeback by former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., some are also asking: "What about Kendel?" Kendel Sibiski Ehrlich, the popular former first lady, has long been rumored to be a potential candidate for elected office and remains in the public eye by co-hosting a weekly radio program with her husband, the first Republican governor in a generation in Maryland. Of late, State House and GOP circles are abuzz with the prospect of Kendel Ehrlich running against Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold, who is considered vulnerable after recent controversies, or for the seat of retiring state Sen. Janet Greenip.

Lawmakers and taxpayers screamed bloody murder when they heard about bailed-out execs flying around in corporate jets. So the reaction tonight, when a company affiliated with American International Group simply tosses $200,000 into the Inner Harbor air? Ooh! Ahh! Ports America, a cargo-terminal operator run by a company that is partially owned by AIG, is footing the bill for Baltimore's New Year's Eve fireworks display. AIG has received more federal bailout money than any other company, about $150 billion so far. The $200,000 fireworks display means that 0.00013 percent of that cash is being set aflame, right?