Maryland Democratic Party

Undaunted by the last presidential election, in which liberalism was turned into a political dirty word, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa runs as an attack candidate armed with an undiluted, unapologetic liberalism.At a Democratic luncheon at the Timonium Fairgrounds yesterday, Harkin urged Democrats to be "strong for who we are and what we believe," as he outlined a massive program of building infrastructure to revive the American economy."Don't tell me we can't do it because we've done it before," Harkin said, recalling the public works projects of Franklin Roosevelt in the depths of the Great Depression.

Looking to poke holes in Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s claim to have solved Maryland's financial crisis without raising taxes, the Maryland Democratic Party plans to release its study of the governor's fiscal record at today's State of the State speech, arguing that his tax, toll and fee increases have cost Marylanders $3 billion over the past three years. Moreover, the Democrats say Ehrlich hasn't solved Maryland's structural deficit but instead has pushed it off to the next term. Noting figures in the governor's budget proposal, the Democrats say Ehrlich is leaving $3 billion in deficits for the winner of November's election.

The recently elected head of Maryland's Republican Party said yesterday that he wants to open the GOP's presidential primary election next year to state voters who are registered as independents."

Vice President Al Gore made a brief foray into Maryland last night to tap into the wealth of the state's well-heeled Democrats and came away with an estimated $600,000 for the party's coffers. Megan Jones, deputy press secretary at the Democratic National Committee, said the money raised at the $25,000-a-couple dinner party will go to the party "for electing Democrats at all levels." The presumed Democratic nominee for president delivered a standard stump speech, praising the robust economy and denouncing Texas Gov. George W. Bush and other Republican leaders.

With his party's nomination finally in hand, Sen. Barack Obama urged Democratic leaders in Maryland and elsewhere to realize that an extraordinary organizational effort would be needed for him to win in November. He was young and inexperienced, and he was black. He had to be more than an inspirational speaker. We have to change the game, he said. His evolving plan required doubling and redoubling what is often called the ground game: voter registration and turnout. He would need a 21st Century version of what campaigns have always done.

MARYLAND DEMOCRATIC Party Chairman Nathan Landow and Executive Director Thomas Cowley came by to explain to editorial writers the new congressional redistricting plan. I asked, "What was the philosophical rationale underlying your plan?""Philosophically speaking," Landow replied, "we want to stick it up the Republicans' kazoo! We want to elect as many Democrats to Congress as possible!" Cowley added: "Yeah! And if the Republicans think this is bad, wait'll they see what we do to 'em when we redraw the state legislative districts!"

ADELPHI -- Moments after New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton took the podium at a Maryland Democratic Party fundraiser last night, she made a very clear political promise about the state's future - before being interrupted with a question about her own. "You're going to have a new governor and lieutenant governor," she said to a crowd of about 250 attending the event in Adelphi. "You're going to have a new senator." Then a woman yelled from the audience: "We're going to have a new president, too."

WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton will be campaigning in Maryland tonight with no pointed messages for special interest groups."

Former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who had a tumultuous relationship with The Baltimore Sun while in office, will now contribute regularly to its pages, writing a column focused on national politics. Ehrlich, who was Maryland's governor from 2003 to 2007, said the weekly op-ed column will offer an outlet for his writing as well as a platform to reach a broader audience. The column will appear Sundays, starting Jan. 29. "I think both sides had to think very long and hard" about the arrangement, said Ehrlich, who acknowledged that close advisers expressed mixed reactions, given his strained history with the newspaper.

Fourth in a series of snapshots of candidates in Maryland's 3rd Congressional District. The brief profiles of first Democratic and then Republican candidates will appear in this space leading up to the Sept. 12 primary. Date of birth: Feb. 23, 1949 Party affiliation: Democrat Professional background: Special assistant to governor of Maine with responsibilities for housing, corrections, business regulation and energy conservation; as investment banker, involved in almost $1 billion in financing for state and local governments and their agencies, and public and private companies; started small businesses that have created hundreds of jobs.