Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend launched a new phase in her television advertising campaign yesterday as she began airing her first spot attacking the record of Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

The ad contrasts the lieutenant governor's record on education with that of the Baltimore County congressman, highlighting his partisan votes on such issues as cutting college loans and school lunches and eliminating the Department of Education.

"He has tried to portray himself as a moderate," Townsend said yesterday. "When you say you're one thing and your record says you're something else, I think it is my responsibility to make clear that his record doesn't show that."

The 30-second spot in the Baltimore and Washington television markets begins as two polls show that Ehrlich for the first time has a slight edge over Townsend among Maryland voters in the race for governor.

Ehrlich's response

Ehrlich and his campaign staff charged yesterday that Townsend's slip in the polls prompted her to "go negative" and said her ad unfairly distorts his record. He said he voted to cut the Department of Education to send those dollars directly to the states, and the vote to cut school lunches was an effort to replace the program with block grants.

"As the polls have headed south for her, the entire tone of their campaign has changed," Ehrlich said. "She's going all negative, and they've stopped selling their candidate."

Townsend said the ad had been planned long before the release of any polls. But she also said her campaign has not done an adequate job of focusing on Ehrlich's record. "The polls show the race has tightened, and I think it's now the right time to show people what his record has been," she said.

'Comparative' ads

While Townsend and her staff insisted on describing the ad as "comparative" rather than "negative," its emphasis on Ehrlich's record marks a shift in her advertising strategy. Until now, her attacks on Ehrlich's record have been made in person during campaign appearances or in literature.

Her previous two television spots include a biographical piece and another showcasing her record and platform on education. The only ads attacking Ehrlich's record had been two radio spots paid for by independent groups - the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, which has endorsed Townsend.

"It's not so much signaling a new phase in the campaign as putting into our advertising what we've been talking about on the stump," said Townsend spokesman Peter Hamm. "There's a clear difference between these two candidates for governor, and we intend to make sure voters are fully educated before they go to the polls."

Other issues that the campaign is expected to spotlight in "comparative" ads include gun control, protecting the environment and abortion rights.

Yesterday's ad replaces the education spot run by Townsend over the past two weeks, and the campaign is expected to continue spending about $150,000 a week on television. But as the Nov. 5 election approaches, the campaign is likely to begin running multiple ads at once and more frequently.

Political observers said they weren't surprised that Townsend had started attacking Ehrlich's record, noting that polls have indicated for weeks that the race has grown closer.

What the polls say

A poll released Monday by WRC-TV4 in Washington found Ehrlich leading 46 percent to 43 percent. The poll of 625 likely voters by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Yesterday, a poll of 823 likely voters by Gonzales/Arscott Research and Communications Inc. of Annapolis found that Ehrlich is ahead of Townsend 47 percent to 46 percent, with 7 percent undecided. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.

While Townsend's name is recognized by 99 percent of voters in the Gonzales/Arscott poll, 39 percent have a favorable impression of her and 35 percent have an unfavorable impression. Ehrlich is known by 91 percent, with 44 percent having a favorable impression and 21 percent unfavorable.

"Her intention is to try to raise his negatives," said Carol Arscott, whose firm conducted the poll. "It will be hard for anyone to convince folks in the Baltimore metropolitan area that Bob is evil because they know him too well.

"They'll have an easier time in the Washington area where he's not as well known and impressions are not as fixed," she said.

CAMPAIGN AD WATCH

Ad attempts to show differences in education stances

Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend began airing the first television advertisement yesterday in which she mentions her opponent, Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. The ad -- the third major one in her campaign -- contrasts the candidates on education and will air in the Baltimore and Washington markets.

What the ad says: The spot begins with side-by-side pictures of Townsend and Ehrlich and says: "There is a real difference in education." With video of Townsend visiting a classroom, an announcer says Townsend "fought for record investment in our schools" and "has a plan to lower class sizes, emphasize basics like reading and math, and teach character education in every school."

The ad then switches to an image of Ehrlich's face as the announcer chronicles his congressional record, including that he "voted to cut the school lunch program and college loans." The announcer then says Ehrlich "voted against smaller class sizes and for the largest education cut in history -- and even voted to eliminate the Department of Education."

The facts: During Townsend's eight years as lieutenant governor, the state's annual spending on education increased by $1.2 billion, and Maryland spent a record amount on school construction.

She also supports the Thornton Commission education plan, which calls for an extra $1.3 billion for public schools within five years. But she did not play a large role in securing passage of the measure and she has not specified how she would pay for it. In her "Blueprint for Maryland's Future," she pledges to cut class sizes and require character education in schools.

For every charge made against Ehrlich's record, the ad cites specific legislation in text on the screen -- such as the attempt in 1995 to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. At the time of that vote, House Republicans said they wanted to send the headquarters money to individual states.

Ehrlich says that many of the other votes were procedural and are taken out of context, including some that were part of the 1995 federal budget standoff and government shutdown. Ehrlich points to other measures he supported to increase school funding.

The Maryland State Teachers Association and the American Federation of Teachers have voted to endorse Townsend. They were key supporters of Gov. Parris N. Glendening in his two elections.

Analysis: The ad capitalizes on polls showing Maryland voters are most concerned about public education, suggesting that Ehrlich has a worse record of supporting schools.

"I do think voters care a lot about education, but I don't think he's especially vulnerable on it," said James G. Gimpel, a government professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. "Some of that legislation is purely symbolic, votes he may have taken to support the leadership. This is a common campaign tactic, to take votes completely out of context and play them up in ads."

The ad seems likely to be more effective in the Washington area because Ehrlich is less known there. One of the big battles of the campaign is the rush to define Ehrlich to the voter-rich Washington suburbs -- with Townsend trying to portray him as conservative as Ehrlich cultivates a moderate image.