WELL, THAT DIDN'T didn't take long, did it? Only days into his transition from reform candidate to governor, we find Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. knee-deep in the culture of back-scratching -- the very one he ran against.
Turns out candidate and Gov.-elect Ehrlich took a few expensive trips on a luxury helicopter owned by a businessman and friend who wanted him elected. Only after prodding by Sun reporters did his team fully acknowledge the flights and their cost.
Timely reports of campaign contributions, cash or in-kind, are no mindless bureaucratic requirement: Voters need to know which wealthy interests are supporting candidates and to what extent financially. Surely Mr. Ehrlich knows the difficulties that flow from failure to comply: one of his allies, state Sen. Clarence M. Mitchell IV, was censured this year by the legislative ethics panel for taking a loan from business interests without reporting it.
Mr. Ehrlich's Dauphin Eurocopter was rented from Whirlwind Aviation Inc. of Frederick. The sole director, according to state records, is J. Duncan Smith, who is also vice president of Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., owner of 62 television stations, including WBFF Fox 45 in Baltimore.
After failing to report the flights at all on campaign expenditure forms, the Ehrlich team has offered varying explanations of how the flights would be paid for. First it produced undated documents showing that half the $13,750 cost had been given to the campaign as an in-kind contribution at the rate of $1,000-an-hour, less than half the usual $2,500-per-hour rate. Then an Ehrlich spokesman said the entire $13,750 was an in-kind contribution: that sum would have amounted to a violation of the contribution limits: $4,000 per candidate, per election.
In a still-later explanation, $4,000 of the $13,750 bill was called a campaign contribution to Mr. Ehrlich from the helicopter company. Another $3,750 was a contribution from the company to Mr. Ehrlich's running mate, Michael S. Steele. The remaining $6,050 will be "invoiced to the campaign."
The transaction cries out for scrutiny.
If Mr. Ehrlich thinks it's OK for a governor to accept the creature comforts businessmen, including friends, shove in front of public officials, he should learn otherwise. He's about to preside over the awarding of big contracts; he can help to relax or remove costly regulations; he can adopt friendly policies. At such moments, the giver of elegant favors may expect to be remembered.
Mr. Ehrlich's determination to strike out against what has been called a culture of corruption in Annapolis was welcome. Now, he must set a new tone or the old culture will rejoice -- and thrive.