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Harris and Kratovil: In their new adsThe ads may be positive, but the barbs are still being traded between the campaigns of Maryland's open 1st District U.S. House seat.

Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) and Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) each released a new campaign spot this week, with both focusing on positive biographical aspects of their respective candidates. And as the ads airwaves, both campaigns responded to the perceived inaccuracies of each other's commercials.

"Frank Kratovil will need a magician better than Harry Houdini if he thinks he can trick voters into believing that he is no longer the O'Malley loving, anti-energy exploring, high taxing, big spending liberal he called himself before the primary." said Harris' campaign manager, Chris Meekins.

DENVER - U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Kensington) says Queen Anne County State's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) would represent the values of Maryland’s 1st Congressional District far better than his opponent.

“This is a tough district for Democrats but Frank Kratovil is a very independent minded pragmatic centrist moderate candidate. Very much a mold of Wayne Gilchrest,” Van Hollen told PolitickerMD.com during a reception hosted by Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon at the Renaissance Denver Hotel.

“I think that Frank Kratovil represents Gilchrest tradition of moderation. And I think his political temperament: it’s much better with that district than does the person who he’s running against,” said Van Hollen. “And his opponent, Andy Harris, is very much on the right fringe.”

U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R) was first elected to Congress in 1990. He was defeated by state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) during the February primaries.

Van Hollen -- chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- declined to say specifically if the DCCC would be sending any money Kratovil’s way, but did say the organization “will be involved in every way.”

Van Hollen said focusing on Harris’ ideologies should be a key part of Kratovil’s campaign strategy.

“His strategy needs to focus on the fact that the positions Andy Harris has taken is like Bush on steroids,” he said.

Asked "what one candidate" he'd most like to see win, DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen told the National Journal it was simple: Frank Kratovil.

PolitickerMA.com says that Romney's cameo on behalf of Andy Harris does not rule him out as a vice presidential contender.

Last night, 1st District Democratic nominee Frank Kratovil released the second television ad of his campaign, again projecting the image of an independent Eastern Shore prosecutor.

"As an Eastern Shore prosecutor, its my job to stand up for those who work hard and play by the rules," Kratovil says while standing in front of the Queen Anne's County courthouse.  "But in Washington, no one seems to be standing up for us anymore."

Kratovil was first elected the State's Attorney from Queen Anne's County in 2002, when the Republicans took the governor's office for the first time in 36 years. He began in that office in 1997 as Assistant State's Attorney, after having spent three years in a similar role in Prince George's County. He won re-election in 2006.

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R-Mass.): Getty Images PhotoFormer Massachusetts governor, ex-presidential candidate and, perhaps, future vice-presidential candidate Mitt Romney will host a Sept. 12 fundraiser for Republican Andy Harris's 1st District congressional campaign.

Romney will appear at a luncheon for the three-term Cockeysville state Senator, who defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Kennedyville) in the GOP primary earlier this year.

His appearance will come a week after the Republican National Committee Convention in Minneapolis, a place where many political observers believe he will accept the vice presidential nomination.

Don't know who they are, but the group Environment America Inc. says in its Federal Election Commisssion reports that it is endorsing Frank Kratovil, the 1st District Democratic congressional contender.

A new spot for State Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) shows the 1st District congressional hopeful in a brand new light -- and outfit.

"As a doctor and legislator, I'm always working to help families make their lives better," Harris says from an operating room in blue medical scrubs. "But it doesn't take a doctor to see Congress is making things worse."

Though campaign materials have shown him in his scrubs before, this is the first time his role as an obstetric anesthesiologist takes center stage. The ad may help Harris soften his image from that of a political brawler, after a long and brutal GOP primary battle with incumbent U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Kennedyville) and state Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R-Stevensville).

DENVER – Columbia Democratic Club official Josh Friedman says Gov. Martin O’Malley, an early Hillary Clinton supporter, has worked to bring Democrats together behind presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama.

“Our governor has shown great leadership,” he told PolitickerMD.com. He praised O’Malley (D-Baltimore) for “setting the example of how to be a team player.”

O’Malley originally endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) during the primaries, but Friedman said he was convinced O’Malley was now “100% behind Obama.”

Friedman has not wavered in support of Obama. It’s actually been a family affair.

He is the vice-president of the Columbia Democratic Club and his wife, Lisa Lopez-Friedman, is a pledged delegate to Obama.

Friedman didn’t seem certain Clinton’s supporters wouldn’t cause a ruckus in the convention hall, but he did say “I think Maryland is solid for Obama.”

DENVER – Bel Air Town Commissioner Dave Carey (D) says the race between state's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) and state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) is wide open at this point.

Though Carey – who works on Kratovil’s Hartford county team – acknowledged that the 1st Congressional District is “reliably Republican,” he did say that Kratovil’s “message of moderation on the environment and bipartisanship is gonna play well” in the town of Bel Air.

“As people get to know Frank Kratovil, they’ll think of him as a worthy successor to [Republican U.S. Rep. Wayne] Gilchrest,” he told PolitickerMD.com. It “will be well known that Harris has an abysmal record on the environment,” he added.