Uphill Battle

Mayoral challengers face uphill battle against SchmokeRonald W. Williams likened himself to Moses and vowed to lead city residents across the burning sands of poverty to the promised land.Roy F. Carraher implied that his house is protected from burglars by two powerful gentlemen: Smith & Wesson. "You can put all the policemen you want on the streets, it won't make a difference," Carraher explained.And Joseph A. Scalia said, "We have a mayor who's advocatingiving out needles to drug addicts.

"Journey of Hope," the Academy Award-winning Swiss film about Turkish peasants trying to cross illegally into Switzerland in search of a better life, tells a story that is repeated thousands of times each day, often with heartbreaking results. The latest headlines are from Italy, where authorities are feverishly working to persuade desperate Albanians to return to their benighted country. The problem, of course, is that they have so little to return to, and so much to hope for in developed countries where economic opportunity seems to beckon.

The competition for the No. 3 quarterback job is one of the few intriguing battles so far at Ravens training camp. Troy Smith and Drew Olson will take their evolving contest from the practice fields at McDaniel College in Westminster to M&T Bank Stadium for tomorrow night's opening preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Smith, who was drafted in the fifth round this year after winning the Heisman Trophy at Ohio State last season, has been getting more reps in practice than Olson, who signed as a free agent out of UCLA in 2006 before spending last season on the Ravens practice squad and playing for an NFL Europa team in Amsterdam.

Eating oysters Rockefeller and gossiping about politics, more than 2,500 people packed into luxury boxes overlooking the football field at M&T Bank Stadium last night to donate at least $1.6 million toward Mayor Martin O'Malley's re-election effort, making it one of the richest fund-raisers in state history. "It's a tremendous turnout, and it's a great testimony to the progress that the people of this city are making under this administration," a beaming O'Malley said, looking over the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, which included many of the city's best-known politicians and business leaders.

Chris Redman and Dan Robinson decided to go back to basics. After another week of trying to digest the playbook, the Ravens' rookie quarterbacks were the only players left on the field as the team's second passing camp came to a close yesterday at the Owings Mills complex. They set up a trash can on the goal line and launched nearly 50 balls at it from 40 yards away. It had nothing to do with reading defenses. It had nothing to do with looking for the second or third receiver. It simply was about regaining their timing and stepping back from a rigorous crash course.

Second District Democratic challenger Connie Galiazzo DeJuliis raised significantly more money in the second quarter than did Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, but had a third less spending money on hand, according to campaign finance reports.DeJuliis raised $223,440 in April, May and June, benefiting from $103,050 in political committee contributions and $32,260 from a national mailing paid for by her campaign but distributed by Emily's List, a Washington-based organization for Democratic women who support abortion rights.

Cal Ripken will have missed 46 of the Orioles' first 117 games if he comes off the disabled list on schedule.He faces the possibility of postseason back surgery.What he can offer in 2000, no one knows.The Orioles made the right call in exercising Ripken's $6.3 million option for next season. But that doesn't mean they're obligated to again pencil him in as their regular third baseman.Incredible as this sounds, the Iron Man no longer is reliable, at least not in terms of his availability. Surgery could return him to his old, 162-game self.

FIRST, THE BAD news. They are, of course, the people most Americans love to hate. If they're not rushing Richard Jewell to judgment (oops, he was never charged in connection with the bombing during the Olympics) or pressuring Arthur Ashe to acknowledge that he had AIDS, they're printing crime-scene photos from JonBenet Ramsey's killing.They are, of course, "the media." And it doesn't seem to matter very much whether the public can get enough examples or not - the umpteen public opinion surveys tell the story: Journalists are slugging it out with members of Congress for first place in the least loved and respected category.

All Robert Copenhaver wants is to ride the light rail.He's not seeking any favors. No freebies. Doesn't want to be treated differently from anyone else.The Cockeysville resident is an Orioles fan. And the easiest way for him to get to a ballgame is to catch light rail at the Timonium station.But Mr. Copenhaver is also disabled. He needs a wheelchair to get around.And while it's easy to get on and off the light rail trains, he says, getting out of the station in Timonium is another matter.

Stiff challenges for a pair of congressional incumbents and a re-election run by the state's senior senator will headline a competitive 2010 election season for federal lawmakers from Maryland, according to politicians in both parties and independent analysts. Republicans started gunning for Rep. Frank Kratovil before he took office in 2009 in the district that straddles the Chesapeake Bay, composed of the Eastern Shore and parts of Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Harford counties. Because the Democrat represents one of the most Republican areas of the state, he easily ranks as the most vulnerable member of the state's delegation in Washington and is one of the most endangered House members in the country.