AS REP. ROBERT L. Ehrlich Jr. attempts to wrest control of the State House from Democrats for the first time in almost four decades, White House political director Kenneth B. Mehlman vows that national Republicans will be dropping in to help.

"If they think we can make a difference, we want to be helpful with a number of different people," Mehlman said in an interview over the weekend in Ocean City, where he was speaking at the state Republican Party's spring convention.

Such help will likely mean campaign events and fund-raisers with President Bush and other top GOP officials - including the first lady, Vice President Dick Cheney, Education Secretary Rod Paige, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez already has visited Baltimore for a "nonpolitical" announcement at a church with Ehrlich, and he'll probably be back during the campaign, Mehlman said.

"If you look at the numbers, the president has a high degree of support in Maryland," said Mehlman, a Pikesville High School graduate who remains keenly interested in the politics of his native state. "Bob Ehrlich and the president share a commitment to reaching out to voters beyond the Republican Party."

Mehlman said the White House also will work to keep Maryland's eight-person congressional delegation evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

With this year's redistricting, Maryland Democrats tried to redraw boundary lines in such a way to secure a 6-2 advantage - hoping to defeat Rep. Constance A. Morella in the 8th Congressional District and capture Ehrlich's open seat in the 2nd.

Morella has a fund-raiser scheduled with the president, and the White House will work with former Rep. Helen Delich Bentley as she seeks to win back her old 2nd District seat, Mehlman said.

"We look forward to helping in any way that Bob Ehrlich, Connie Morella and Helen Bentley want," he said. "When you have a six-seat majority, every race is crucial."

Mehlman added that in his position as White House political director, "there is not a member of Congress I prefer to work with more than Connie Morella."

Even when liberal-leaning Morella doesn't vote with the president, "she is doing it because she is representing the people of her district," Mehlman said. "Her job is to represent the people of her district, not to vote with the president every time."

Sheen to give Townsend's event 'presidential' flavor

While Ehrlich looks to President Bush for help, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend will be turning to a Democratic president to headline a big-ticket fund-raiser next week.

But it won't be former President Bill Clinton - or any other former president, for that matter. Townsend's $1,000-a-ticket event will feature Martin Sheen, who portrays President Josiah Bartlett on NBC's The West Wing.

Sheen has long been active with the Democratic Party. He worked with the presidential campaign of Townsend's father, Robert F. Kennedy. He stayed in touch with the family over the years and offered to help Townsend, a campaign spokesman said.

Her supporters will be able to chat with the fictional president over cocktails Monday night at the home of Michael and Jessica Bronfein. The campaign expects to raise more than $100,000.

The Ehrlichs to take turns on fund-raising runway

Speaking of fund-raisers, Kendel Ehrlich, wife of expected GOP gubernatorial nominee Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich, promises to hold the largest Republican women's event in state history tonight.

The campaign has sold 1,100 tickets to a $100-per-person dinner and fashion show at Martin's West. Both Ehrlichs plan to model for the show - the candidate in a tuxedo, his wife in a couple of dresses.

Name recognition working for lieutenant governor

Visiting traditionally Republican Western Maryland last week, Townsend was treated a little like a rock star, signing autographs for some excited fans. It was easy to see the effect of being a Kennedy.

"Isn't this neat?" exclaimed Vicki Allgaier of Brunswick after the lieutenant governor autographed her campaign sign. "I'm going to take this home and frame it. This is very special."

Townsend seems to be able to get by with just her first name when she's on the campaign trail.

"I have to remember to call her Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend," said Del. Sue Hecht, Frederick County's lone Democrat in the General Assembly and a candidate for state Senate. "You all will have a hard time calling her governor because she is Kathleen to us."

Townsend visited Frederick and Washington counties and raised more than $10,000 at a luncheon with former Gov. Harry R. Hughes in a hangar at the Frederick airport.

But she also added to her list of minor verbal gaffes. When introducing Hecht at a rally in Brunswick, Townsend described her as "our next senator from Carroll County."