Campaigns respond to Washington Times endorsement

Caligiuri Decries “Negative Hit Campaign”

State Sen. Andy Harris is touting an endorsement today by the Washington Times, but his two main rivals for the GOP congressional nomination in the first district dismiss the value of support from an out of town newspaper.

“I don’t think the endorsement of a Washington, D.C.-based newspaper will have any influence on voters in Maryland,” said Tony Caligiuri, Chief of Staff for Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, the nine-term GOP incumbent being challenged by Harris and state Sen. E.J. Pipkin. “It would be different if the endorsement came from a local paper.”

Caligiuri also said that Harris has run a “negative hit campaign,” and that the Washington Times article was a “negative hit piece.”

“The two go together nicely,” Caligiuri said. “Like two peas in a pod” - borrowing the Harris campaign’s frequent analogy of Gilchrest and Pipkin’s ‘liberal’ pairing.

The newspaper incorrectly labeled Pipkin as “generally pro-choice,” said his spokesperson.

“E.J. Pipkin has not wavered in his position,” said Andi Morony, Pipkin’s press secretary. “He is against middle and late term abortions, and partial birth abortion.”

According to Morony, Pipkin does support early-stage abortion rights.

Morony was also quick to respond to negative charges against Pipkin, and said, “E.J. has led the fight in Annapolis against increased taxes. In 2006, he proposed cutting both state income and state property taxes.”

“We look forward to bringing our message to the voters," Morony said.

The mood from the Harris campaign was much different, saying that support from the Washington Times will help their campaign.

“Republican primary voters trust the Washington Times,” said Chris Meekins, Harris’ campaign manager.

Meekins said the Times piece presented a “point by point breakdown” of the Harris campaign. He said the editorial highlighted “the fact” that “Andy Harris is the only conservative candidate in the race.”

“(Harris) is the only candidate who can say that he voted against all tax increases,” Meekins said.

The editorial highlighted the major theme of the Harris campaign, which revolves around their belief that Gilchrest is too moderate and does not present strong conservative credentials, while Harris does.

Caligiuri said he has been hearing that argument from primary opponents for years.

“It sounds like the same negative and inaccurate charges that the Harris campaign has made,” said Caliguiri. “I’ve been working for Wayne for 18 years. There have been 26 primary candidates who have run against Wayne in that time and most of them have said that same thing. I don’t see why this primary would be any different.”

Caligiuri also dismissed the objectivity of the editorial.

“In politics, no one on either side of the aisle thinks that the Washington Times is a fair and balanced newspaper,” Caligiuri said. “Most of the people in our district don’t even read it.”

And Caligiuri said that if a “respected paper like the Baltimore Sun” had endorsed Harris, it would have far greater significance.

“In the end, I think this has as much of an effect as it would have if a Houston-based newspaper endorsed Andy Harris.”