In any tight election race, partisans watch like hawks for any slight in the media - perceived or real - to their favorite candidates. This year's election was no different.

Twice over the weekend, WBAL-TV broadcast an hourlong election special. The program featured the two major Maryland gubernatorial candidates being questioned separately for 30 minutes by three of the station's reporters.

Shortly after the show's end, viewers began calling the station - and on Monday continued to call sister radio station WBAL-AM - to complain that Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. got much rougher treatment than his opponent, Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

"I'm the first to admit the tone and tenor of the interviews were different," says Bill Fine, president and general manager for WBAL-TV. "But they were very different because of the difference in the two candidates."

Ehrlich "was willing to engage in debate," Fine says, while Townsend "was not, and said so, and even grabbed the arm of an interviewer to prevent her from interrupting." Some of the complaints, Fine says, were clearly orchestrated by Republican partisans, as they included near-identical expressions of outrage.

Fair or not, the vigorous questioning of Ehrlich made for some of the best political television found on any local commercial station this fall. Reporter Jayne Miller asked the GOP congressman pointedly about his law enforcement platform, noting that his choice for U.S. Attorney disagreed with Ehrlich's biggest-ticket proposal. Reporter Deborah Weiner cited Ehrlich's television ads that tied Townsend to a "culture of corruption" and pressed him about some of his own ethically challenged allies.

After his initial pat answers, Ehrlich found himself pushed to give more expansive responses. To his credit, he was game enough to do so. In contrast, Townsend reacted to questions with an old-fashioned four-corners basketball offense: She faithfully stuck to well-honed answers as the moments ticked by, giving the all-important impression of openness in the meantime.

Ehrlich's half-hour, which aired first, drew stronger ratings. But angry callers burned up the lines to WBAL-TV and WBAL-AM on Monday. Some callers to the radio station expanded their complaints to include The Sun for its endorsement Sunday of Townsend. In particular, criticism focused on a line saying that Republican Lt. Governor candidate, Michael S. Steele "brings little to the team but the color of his skin" and that his selection was "a calculated move."

"Race is one of the factors - but it's not enough" to merit endorsement, says Dianne Donovan, The Sun's editorial page editor. The editorial board made a painstaking review of the records and qualities of all the leading candidates for the top offices and found Steele wanting, she says.

In remarks on WJZ-TV Sunday night, conservative commentator Richard Vatz, a Towson University professor who specializes in political rhetoric, castigated the newspaper for that conclusion. The Sun has consistently favored Townsend in its coverage, Vatz told viewers.

Mark Hyman, the Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. executive who writes and narrates the editorials for his company's stations, also accused the newspaper Monday of allying itself with Democrats. Hyman told WBFF-TV viewers that The Sun is "the party's media organ" and said its characterization of the qualifications of Steele was "a most racist comment."

The Sun fielded some 50 to 60 complaints over the issue. But, Donovan says, "We were actually taking our cues from Ehrlich. He always made the case that Mr. Steele's race was an important factor."

Indeed, tall banners sprang up near polling stations in Baltimore with a heavy concentration of black voters yesterday, reading "let us make history." Steele's larger-than-life photograph stood alone above the words "first black lieutenant governor."

Other ads also offer tantalizing hints of behind-the-scenes campaign dynamics. In recent days, the Democrat's camp has run television ads with testimonials from unidentified people, presumably citizens, speaking about their fears of Ehrlich and trust in Townsend. Some of them may be the ordinary citizens they would seem - but one of them, at least, is not: Elizabeth Pike, current director of the Washington lobbying office for Maryland under the Glendening-Townsend administration.

One last word on politics: During her congressional debate at Maryland Public Television against Dutch Ruppersberger last month, Helen Delich Bentley kept glancing down at an index card in front of her and grimacing in concentration. The card included no policy tips, no cutting one-liners. Instead, the simple reminder: "Smile."

Questions? Comments? Story ideas? David Folkenflik can be reached by e-mail at david.folkenflik@baltsun.com or by phone at 410-332-6923.