There is no such thing as a mundane trip to the mailbox for College Park residents.
For the past four months, potential voters in next week’s Democratic primaries have received a steady dose of politics every time they get their mail. Letters and postcards detailing the promises and visions of a better District 21 have become a main source for candidates to communicate with residents. And while many of the mailings are upbeat, two particular candidates locked in a heated battle have taken a different route with the content of their mailings.
In one of the closest state Senatorial elections in recent memory, the dialogue between Sen. John Giannetti and challenger Jim Rosapepe has stepped up a notch as the Giannetti campaign unleashes its counter attack to a series of mailings from Rosapepe, just days away from the pivotal primary Tuesday.
Rosapepe, who has been sending out direct mailings to District 21 residents since April, has taken several shots at Giannetti in multiple letters. There was one saying that because Giannetti voted for deregulation as a delegate in 1999, he was responsible for not protecting consumers for this year’s 72 percent increase in Baltimore Gas & Electric rates. Then there was the letter linking Giannetti to the Columbine shootings because he voted against an assault weapons ban bill in 2004. One Rosapepe ad put Giannetti in the company of President George W. Bush and Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich.
But Rosapepe says he is merely stating the facts and for the most part, he is not the one responsible for the negative atmosphere.
“In terms of mail, I think John’s campaign has been very negative. They’ve sent out two pieces. 100 percent of what they’ve put out is negative. Most of our mailings are positive.”
In two mailings from Giannetti’s campaign, the most recent arriving yesterday, the senator mostly refutes the claims made by Rosapepe.
“There’s an old saying: Those who can – do, those who can’t – criticize,” reads a Giannetti ad. “No wonder Jim Rosapepe’s campaign is all about Senator Giannetti.”
While there is nothing new about negative campaigning, the bickering between the two candidates highlights how competitive this election is.
“That kind of campaigning is as old as our kind of democracy. Go back and look in the history of American politics… Lincoln was called a baboon. Sometimes negative campaigning is effective, but there are lots of examples where it backfires,” said Donald Norris, the Director of the Maryland Institute for Politics and Research. “Nobody’s ever forced into it. That’s a choice they make. They’re not compelled to it. They choose to do it. There is a calculation that goes on…If we are attacked, we have to attack back.”
And attack they do.
In response to Rosapepe’s claims that Giannetti did not vote for the assaults weapons ban, Giannetti’s campaign simply refers to the “F” grade he was given by the National Riffle Association last year. Giannetti didn’t vote for the bill, which would have made an array of assault weapons illegal in the state, because the details of the bill were unclear and state and local police asked him to vote against it, said David Singer, Giannetti’s campaign manager.
But Rosapepe says the police chief that asked Giannetti not to vote for the bill was in Republican Ehrlich’s political pocket and the vote proves his point that Giannetti was afraid to vote against the governor.
“He got campaign money from the NRA. When you take money from an interest group, you’re saying your comfortable with their support. He’s comfortable with their support as with Ehrlich and the Bush Republicans when he takes money from Dick Hug.” Hug is a top political fundraiser for Ehrlich.
And this is just the beginning.
In another letter from the Giannetti campaign, a picture of the senator is shown with his arms in the air with spots of mud all over the picture, evidently the ‘mud-slinging’ of Rosapepe.
The advertisement reminds voters that Giannetti gave Rosapepe the Heimlich maneuver a few months ago at a lobbyist dinner, saving him from choking. It also points out that Giannetti “voted for lower rates time and time again,” rebutting Rosapepe’s claims that he was partially responsible for the BGE crisis. Mailings attacking Rosapepe’s claims will continue until the election, Singer said.
“Rosapepe sent out a mailer that says he is teacher-endorsed. Now, Giannetti earned endorsements from the Maryland State Teachers Association, the Prince George’s County Educators Association and the Anne Arundel County Teachers Association. Whenever anyone refers to the teachers, those are the groups,” Singer said. “His ad is unbelievably misleading. Rosapepe may have the support of a few teachers but for him to parlay that into saying he is teacher-endorsed is like saying one or two Catholics endorse him so he is endorsed by the Pope.”
Contact reporter Owen Praskievicz at praskieviczdbk@gmail.com.
