Listen to this articleLt. Gov. Anthony Brown’s TV ads have largely been positive depictions of his background and issues in the race for governor, while Attorney General Doug Gansler has been more prone to attack the O’Malley-Brown record on taxes and education.
But the Brown campaign takes the gloves off in a mailer that went to some Democratic primary voters last week.
“Maryland Kids Will Be Left Behind By Doug Gansler’s Irresponsible Corporate Tax Giveaway,” says the cover (above), with a snarling black-and-white photo of Gansler.
Inside a smiling man in a suit counts $100 bills, while the headline screams, “Doug Gansler’s Irresponsible, Republican Tax Giveaway Ignores Our Children.” (Below)
The mailer revives an attack on Gansler’s position on corporate taxes and universal pre-K first posted in a video on the web by Brown’s campaign in February.
Gansler’s campaign says the mailer distorts his position on lowering the corporate tax rate by .25% a year over the next five years, and universal pre-K. Gansler also appears to favor the combined reporting method of corporate taxation (“closing corporate loopholes” is the catch phrase), which would raise corporate taxes on some companies, while lowering it on others.
The Brown video also shows Gansler repeatedly saying that universal pre-K is unaffordable. Gansler’s website says: “It is time to fully fund, full-day pre-k programs for all qualifying families,” largely to close the minority achievement gap, implying it would not be for every child.
To emphasize for Democratic primary voters the message about Gansler being “reckless and irresponsible,” the mailer quotes the Maryland State Education Association — the teachers union which endorsed Brown seven months ago — as saying “Gansler is taking a page right out of Chris Christie’s playbook,” the Republican governor of New Jersey.
The Sun’s Jeff Barker on Friday reported on a similar but slightly different Brown mailer pushing the same message, but there were no photos of the brochure with the story to make a comparison. The Brown camp might be testing the potency of different messaging.
–Len Lazarick
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