Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) said Thursday that his campaign made a "tactical mistake" last month by producing a negative radio ad that linked former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to the gulf oil disaster. The ad, titled "Drill baby, drill," was the first in a series that O'Malley has launched since mid-June portraying Ehrlich as an agent for big oil, big tobacco, Wall Street and other special interests. O'Malley's underlying accusation in the ads is that Ehrlich's work for a law firm for the past four years has amounted to little more than unregistered lobbying. Ehrlich has called the charge "contemptible."
In the first ad, O'Malley also vaguely referenced a bipartisan vote Ehrlich took on a budget measure in Congress before becoming governor as evidence that Ehrlich was siding with big oil -- and by extension, somewhat culpable in the ongoing spill. The 2001 measure, which allowed for limited exploration, was supported by all of Maryland's Democratic representatives as well.
"When they wanted to open new parts of the gulf for drilling, Ehrlich voted with big oil again," a narrator says halfway through the ad.
On WTOP's "Ask The Governor" program, O'Malley told host Mark Segraves that he continues to believe that Ehrlich's work as a government affairs specialist boils down to an effort to cash in on relationships he made as governor, and previously, as a congressman. But he said that "Drill, baby drill" should not have mentioned the oil spill in the gulf "because it allowed the former governor to claim that we were making claims that he was associated with BP, which we never have."
O'Malley did not back away from any of the remaining claims in the ads, which have been dissected in the news pages of The Post and other publications, and criticized by several pundits and editorial boards, including The Post's. The governor made clear that he intends to continue to make Ehrlich's work for the past four years a campaign theme.
"We never accused him of being a registered lobbyist; what we accused him of was being a lobbyist," O'Malley said. "I think he has an obligation when he runs for office to disclose which interests he's been paid well to represent these last four years so voters can make an informed decision." SOURCE: Washington Post
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