Comfortable in the polls here, McCain stands between bristling Maryland rivals

Sen. John McCain stands with former Gov. Robert Ehrlich

ANNAPOLIS-- Brandishing his capacity to unify a fractured Republican Party, Senator John McCain returned to Annapolis today and stood symbolically between former Gov. Robert Ehrlich and U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest at a press event in the Waterfront Marriot.

Without Ehrlich’s blessing, Gilchrest is waging a bruising 1st

Congressional District re-election battle against state senators Andy Harris and E.J.. Pipkin, who both accuse the moderate Gilcrest of not being a true conservative. Gilchrest has endorsed Harris.

The two Marylanders couldn’t have been standing father apart and still be said to be behind the same podium, but by his presence McCain suggested he’s big enough to embrace both of them.

"We’ve got to re-energize our base... my job is to motivate every Republican to vote," said McCain, who told reporters he has extended his hand to defeated presidential candidate former Gov. Mitt Romney for precisely that reason, and said he would be open to input from President George W. Bush.

McCain’s conqueror in the 2000 GOP Primary, The President yesterday was quoted as saying that if his old rival is the party’s 2008 nominee, he would have "a lot of convincing to do."

McCain noted that he’s the clear frontrunner in the race with 723 amassed delegates compared to former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s 217. The polls show McCain’s on the verge of blowing out the other two last men standing. A Mason-Dixon survey conducted in the days after Super Tuesday showed McCain leading Huckabee in Maryland by a margin of 54-23%, and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul trailing with 7%.

Comfortable in his own intra-party contest here, the candidate kept his sights trained on the Democrats.

"There are huge differences between our two parties," said the Arizona senator. "They want government-run healthcare. They’re threatening to withdraw us from Iraq - no rational observer believes that."

Conservatives note that Gilchrest has called for a troop withdrawal from Iraq, which differentiates him significantly from McCain, a longtime advocate of the continuing troop surge.

Something that McCain shares with Gilchrest other than party affiliation is a service record, which in the war hero presidential candidate’s case was hardly auspicious at the outset, and Ehrlich and Gilchrest both laughed when the presidential candidate reflected on his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy.

"It’s great to be back in Annapolis, although I’m not sure the taxpayers got a complete return on their investment given my conduct," cracked McCain, an infamously insubordinate cadet.

"I must say I did help out the local economy," he added.