May 29, 2008 - 6:13pm

Meekins says GOP is unified behind Harris

After a bruising contest that saw negative attack ads and arguments about contributions from political action committees, state Sen. Andy Harris defeated nine-term incumbent Rep. Wayne Gilchrest  and state Sen. E.J. Pipkin in the Feb. 12 GOP primary in Maryland's 1st Congressional District.

Since that time, Gilchrest has been highly critical of Harris, leading many to believe that he may endorse the Democratic candidate, Frank Kratovil. His longtime aide, Lynn Caligiuri, joined the Kratovil campaign in April as a finance coordinator.

Harris picked-up Pipkin's endorsement. During the primary, he already had the backing of other big name Republicans like former Gov. Bob Ehrlich and former State Department official Ellen Sauerbrey, but the national party's standard-bearer, Sen. John McCain, endorsed Gilchrest.

Despite the divisions between the incumbent congressman and the party's nominee, Harris Campaign Manager Chris Meekins told PolitickerMD.com today that Republicans are "unified behind Andy Harris."

When asked about reaching out to the congressman's financial supporters, Meekins said, "There are a lot of Gilchrest donors who have given to the campaign."

He said he did not want to specifically name anyone "out of respect for their privacy."

"We are the party of lower taxes and less government spending," Meekins said of the GOP, saying that message would appeal to Republicans, Independents, and moderate Democrats.

Asked what concern he had heard most often expressed while on the campaign trail, Meekins said, "People want to know why gas prices are so high and what we can do to lower them."

Meekins said Harris has "already called for a summer suspension of the gas tax" and highlighted "the need to start producing domestic oil."

The state senator supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) because, according to Meekins, "we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil."

Meekins said "lowering energy costs" would be a campaign theme of particular importance when courting Independent voters.

Harris and Kratovil will need those voters to turn out on Election Day in their favor.

Comments

Staying on point


Johnson - Hope you realize the minute a reader gets to the "Chrissy" in the first line of your email, everything else you write is ignored. If you've got a problem with Meekins, talk to him, don't subject all of us to your name-calling.

06/02/08 9:23 pm

It says a lot


It says a lot about those who support Andy Harris if they apparently are unable to comprehend even a simple comment on a blog and are instead forced to put words into people's mouths. Johnson didn't say that he was endorsed by Bush. He was merely implying that the country is fed up with the direction the Republican Party took them. I mean honestly, how can you criticize someone's policy when you don't even have the intelligence to understand a straightforward post. Its like a caveman we're dealing with here. Ugh.. taxes bad. Ugh... Kratovil=Pelosi. Ugh.. fire hurt my hand. The reason you think that Kratovil and Pelosi are the same person is because you have demonstrated time and time again you are not capable of understanding that not all Democrats are clones of Pelosi.

05/31/08 6:17 pm

Johnathan, Andy Harris


Johnathan, Andy Harris WASN'T endorsed by Bush. In fact, he was spurned by Gingrich, Bush and other Republican denizens. This should bode well for him in a cross-over appeal because he shares the same values as the conservative Democrats in the district.

We've got the mini-me of Martin O'Malley versus the more conservative mini-me of Bob Ehrlich. It shouldn't be a very hard decision for voters.

05/31/08 5:30 pm

...And Kratovil Will Do What, Exactly?


Johnson makes a leap of tremendous faith when he says that because HE believes Harris represents the "status quo" that 1st CD voters are going to vote for Frank Kratovil.

I was just looking at Kratovil's website, and he offers nothing new, nothing innovative in his policy recommendations. On Iraq, he says that we should get out as soon as possible, but doesn't believe in setting setting a timetable - sounds an awful lot like he's trying to have it both ways. He offers ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the way of specific proposals on energy, which, next to small business policy, is the single most important economic issue facing America today.

I don't know why you think Kratovil will be fiscally responsible - he's never had to make tough choices on fiscal issues in his political career, and nothing he's spoken about has made me believe that he'll be tight with budgets and look dynamically at revenue. As clear as I can tell, he's offering for drastically increased spending, while at the same time offering proposals which will destroy the American economy (higher taxes lead to lower revenues, not greater ones).

Everyone agrees that Congress needs to spend less. But Kratovil and his Democrat masters (Pelosi, Hoyer and Van Hollen) are certainly no great proponents of that.

05/30/08 1:50 pm

If...


"Meekins says GOP is unified behind Harris"

If your forced to come out and say it...then it probably isn't true.

05/30/08 11:36 am

I can guarantee ol' Chrissy


I can guarantee ol' Chrissy right now that many who support AH in the public eye, especially on the Eastern Shore, will be casting their ballots for Mr. Kratovil on Election Day.

Meekins says that "We are the party of lower taxes and less government spending," but what he doesn't say is that the Republicans are the party of putting our country deeper into debt to the Chinese government, which has basically been funding our ill advised war in Iraq by purchasing our government's debt. The party of George Bush has presided over an unprecedented weakening of the dollar against other international currencies, and no matter how much or how little oil is ever found in the Arctic, the price of a barrel of oil will continue to be sky high unless and until the U.S. gets its financial house in order. Andy's crusade to lower taxes will only result in larger deficits, a further weakening of the dollar, and higher oil prices per barrel.

Scratch the surface of the issues, Chrissy, and you'll find a festering sore underneath, caused by your president and your party. And Andy wants to maintain the status quo? Great news for the Democrats in November in Maryland-01.

05/30/08 9:00 am

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