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Mudslinging Dominates Gubernatorial Debate at Morgan

By John Gartrell
Black College Wire

Rep. Robert Ehrlich

Morgan State University hosted a debate between Maryland Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates, and the key words for the evening were mudsling and spin.

The Sept. 26 event, sponsored by the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP, took place in the Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center and was televised live. The candidates were Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the Democrat, and Republican nominee Rep. Robert Ehrlich. NAACP President Kweisi Mfume was among those who filled the hall.

The evening began with a boisterous crowd awaiting the candidates to reach the stage. The crowd seemed pro-Townsend, but Ehrlich's supporters made their presence known when chants of "KKT" were rebutted with chants of "Ehrlich, Ehrlich."

Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend

The chants became so loud that Mfume asked for some civility once the debate began. However, the crowd continued cheering and booing out of turn, which drastically cut into the time allotted for each candidate.

The questions from a panel of five journalists touched on a variety of subjects including gun control, state budget, and education.

In her opening, Townsend attacked Ehrlich for his congressional votes against affirmative action and his votes to cut education funding and Medicaid. Ehrlich instead focused on his family roots, the negative campaign run by Townsend, and Maryland's economic woes on Townsend's watch.

Townsend pointed out that Ehrlich voted to cut federal student loan funding; Ehrlich attacked Townsend for the disparity of funding at Maryland's HBCUs.

This was the perfect lead-in to the question every Morganite in attendance wanted to know: What about a new library? Anthony MacCarthy of the the Baltimore Sun asked the candidates if they would commit to funding one, and both candidates did their best to avoid a concrete answer. Although Townsend said the library was in this year's budget, it can once again be taken out, and Ehrlich spun out of the question by drawing attention toward the condition of Coppin State.

The candidates "played the dozens," talked about each other's reputation, budget, and relationship with minorities. Both played to the crowd, which in turn seemed to instigate cheap shots that one candidate laid on the other.

John Gartrell is a student at Morgan State University and writes for The Spokesman.