LANDOVER -- Former President Bill Clinton returned to Maryland yesterday to rally support for Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's gubernatorial campaign, urging an adoring crowd not to be fooled by Republican rhetoric.
"It will all turn now on who comes and who stays home," Clinton told more than 5,000 people at Jericho City of Praise, a large church adjacent to FedEx Field in Landover. "If half of you stay home, we'll be out of business Wednesday morning. You will pay the price, not the politicians."
Clinton's visit -- which included a private fund-raiser in Upper Marlboro for Townsend and congressional candidate Christopher Van Hollen Jr. -- is part of an intensive national tour in which he is seeking to boost Democratic voter turnout, particularly among black voters.
The former president told the predominantly African-American crowd that he had visited Hawaii, Oregon, Michigan, Minnesota and Arizona since Wednesday.
Clinton decried efforts by Townsend's opponent, Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., to portray himself as a moderate for Tuesday's election.
Clinton said he was in Washington for much of the time that Ehrlich served in Congress. "If there was a difference between what he did and what Tom DeLay and Dick Armey did, you could have fooled me," he said, referring to two of Congress' most conservative members.
The former president remains extremely popular among African-American voters, and Townsend's campaign is counting on his enthusiastic support to help with voter turnout in Baltimore City and Prince George's County on Election Day.
"Bill Clinton is beloved by many, many Marylanders, and he will help energize us," Townsend said in an interview yesterday.
On Oct. 26, Clinton spoke to a rally at Coppin State College and then was the star of a downtown Baltimore fund-raiser that collected $750,000 for Democratic candidates.
In 1998, Clinton also provided a spark for Maryland Democrats, speaking at a Baltimore church on the Sunday before Election Day and urging its black congregants to support Gov. Parris N. Glendening. That visit is credited with helping create a surge in turnout among black voters, propelling Glendening to an easy second-term victory.
After the hourlong event yesterday, people who attended said they were energized to go out and support Townsend and other Democrats. "I thought it was inspiring," said Cynthia Vines of Landover. "We have to keep Democrats in office."
Isiah Leggett, chairman of the state's coordinated Democrat campaign, said Clinton's visit will be significant in getting out the vote. "This was what we needed. The voters of Prince George's County are going to be very important to us, and I believe this helps us turn the corner," he said.
Townsend leads her opponent, Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., by an overwhelming margin among likely black voters, according to The Maryland Poll taken this week.
The poll, conducted for The Sun and The Gazette newspapers by Potomac Survey Research Inc., found Townsend winning support from 82 percent of likely black voters, compared with Ehrlich's 6 percent.
But overall, Townsend trails Ehrlich by 4 percentage points -- at the outer edge of the poll's 3.4 percentage point margin of error -- which means it is crucial for her campaign to boost black voter turnout as much as possible.
Clinton's visit is one of several by prominent national political figures in the final few days of Maryland's gubernatorial campaign.
Former Vice President Al Gore and Martin Luther King III campaigned for Townsend Thursday in Prince George's and Montgomery counties, and former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. y Giuliani is scheduled to join Ehrlich on the campaign trail tomorrow.
Last night's visit marked the second time in two weeks that Clinton visited Maryland on behalf of Townsend's candidacy.
Earlier yesterday, Townsend spent much of the morning and early afternoon campaigning in Northwest Baltimore and Baltimore County, visiting senior citizen centers and restaurants. She also joined other state and local politicians in celebrating the completion of the $20 million replacement bridge on Reisterstown Road over Interstate 695.
Townsend's opponent, Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., began his day doing a series of television and radio interviews in the Washington market.
The Baltimore County congressman then stopped at Leisure World retirement community in Silver Spring, where he campaigned for 90 minutes.
In the late afternoon, Ehrlich returned to his high school alma mater, Gilman, for a football game against Dunbar High School. The former Gilman football player stood on the sidelines to watch the game and talk with the media about his campaign.
"Our progress has stunned some people and now we are on the verge of a ... touchdown!" Ehrlich yelled as Gilman scored a touchdown just as the congressman was trying to say he was on the verge of winning the election.
As Ehrlich left the game, the students there began clapping their hands and chanted, "Let's go Ehrlich. Let's go Ehrlich."
Ehrlich replied, "Thank you. If we win Tuesday, no school Wednesday."
Sun staff writer Tim Craig contributed to this story.