Frank Kratovil

EASTON -- Congressional candidate Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) says he believes his campaign is tied with Republican Andy Harris's.

"The most recent ones showed us at 36, tied at 36," said Kratovil of Harris's camp at a Friday night fundraiser.

Kratovil was referencing an internal poll released last month by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"There was a rumor that he [Harris] did an internal one and it showed us even better than that," Kratovi told PolitickerMD.com. "But you know - that's rumors."

Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest says his party has become more self serving, more narrow and is centered on "I want, I want, I want."

In an interview with Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher, Gilchrest criticized John McCain for receipting "memorized pieces of information in a narrow way," but praised Barack Obama for "constantly evaluating information" and using his judgment.

Maryland's 1st Congressional District hopefuls will square off in their first public debate this week.

State's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville), state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) and Libertarian Richard Davis will go at it for an hour and a half at Salisbury University starting at 7pm. The event will be free, open to the public and moderated by WYPR-FM's Don Rush.

Frank Kratovil claims his Republican opponent isn't just offering the wrong solutions for America's economic crisis, he's trying to make a profit off the mess he helped create.

"We are in an economic ditch right now, and Andy Harris and the Club for Growth only have one solution: Keep digging," Kratovil said in a statement

The sharp tone is not new to the 1st Congressional District race. Kratovil has condemned Harris in the past for taking money from the Club for Growth PAC. At a fundraiser in July, Kratovil called the organization an "extreme economic group that goes around the country knocking off moderate Republicans."

To view more cartoons by Politicker.com editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe, click here.

The Maryland Republican Party says Republican Wayne Gilchrest's kind words about the Democratic presidential ticket were most definitely an endorsement, despite the fact that the congressman, defeated in the GOP primary earlier in the year, says otherwise.

"By endorsing the Obama/Kratovil Team, the team of higher taxes, more wasteful spending, and bigger government, Gilchrest shows once again that he supports and encourages the type of policies that 1st District voters will reject," Jim Pelura, chairman of the state GOP, said in a statement.

Republican Wayne Gilchrest, who lost his House seat in a heated primary, is throwing his support behind the Democratic ticket this presidential election.

"My perspective is that the ticket is Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden that they have the breadth of experience, I think they are prudent, they are knowledgeable," said Gilchrest (R-Kennedyville) in an interview with WYPR on Wednesday. "We just can't use four more years of the same kind of policy that's somewhat hazardous, which leads to recklessness."

BALTIMORE - Republican Andy Harris' campaign changed gears on Friday with a new slogan.

The campaign's new motto - "Freedom, Opportunity, Change" - was reveled at the campaign's Friday fundraiser featuring former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.).

"People are simply tired of the way business is being done in Washington," Harris told reporters before his luncheon at the Center Club. "Sixteen months ago almost to the day I decided to run for Congress to change the way business is done in Washington."

Standing by Harris' side was Romney, who's record as governor received praise from the state Senator from Cockeysville.

Democrat Frank Kratovil has added a press secretary to his campaign for the 1st Congressional District. Kevin Lawlor has taken a leave of absence from U.S. Rep. Ellen Tauscher's office, where he serves as communications director, and started working for Kratovil this week.

Tauscher, a six-term moderate California Democrat, chairs the Strategic Forces Subcommittee. She also currently chairs the New Democrat Coalition, a weekly meeting of moderate House members to discuss policy goals.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Republican U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest wasn't crossing party lines when he endorsed state's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) because he's never been a Republican, according to Andrew Langer - Maryland for McCain's Eastern Shore coordinator.

Gilchrest currently represents Maryland's 1st Congressional District, but was defeated by state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) in the February primary. Gilchrest endorsed Harris' Democratic opponent -- state's Attorney Frank Kratovil -- early Tuesday morning.   

Langer says that Gilchrist's claims that he is reaching across party lines to support Kratovil are nonsense.

"I don't see this as crossing party lines," said Langer, who also serves as president of the Institute for Liberty. "It makes it very clear to any moderate Republican who's thinking about voting for Frank Kratovil that Wayne Gilchrest was never a maverick. He was always a Democrat in Republican clothing."