Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R-MD) cut the microphones of callers to his talk radio show this weekend after they questioned his stance on oil drilling. Ehrlich is in an electoral rematch with Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) to win back the governor’s mansion and, after Democrats tried and failed to force his radio show off the air, they settled on a different approach.
They bought commercial air time on “The Kendel and Bob Ehrlich Show” on WBAL radio to run an attack ad using Ehrlich’s own “Drill, baby, drill” words against him. The ad and a series of callers criticizing Ehrlich’s time in office began “getting under Ehrlich’s skin,” according to a Baltimore Sun reporter.
The Sun reported that the series of callers, many of whom used Democratic talking points and even the title of the O’Malley radio ad, disrupted Ehrlich’s usual “flow.”
In fact, a clearly agitated Ehrlich ordered the show’s producer at one point Saturday to cut one of the callers off altogether — a no-no in the world of responsible talk radio.Ehlich suggested on-air that he ordered the caller cut off because of “inappropriate” language, but the only language that approached that realm came when the caller suggested that since he was a “voter,” the candidate should be “kissing his butt” rather than arguing with him — presumably to get his vote.
Listen to O’Malley’s “Big Oil Bob” ad:
The station covered the flap on their own site and allowed Ehrlich to defend himself at length. Their story included several audio clips of Ehrlich defending himself against the ad and only a short statement by O’Malley’s camp.
“This stuff is just made up,” Ehrlich said in one clip. “Half of me wants to react violently and the other half understands what this is about.”
The former governor accused O’Malley of doing only negative campaigning because “he’s desperate,” and said he knows he has to “have a shell” and not let it get to him. WBAL hosts interviewing Ehrlich in the clip pointed out the “Drill, baby, drill” line was actually Ehrlich quoting Michael Steele, even though he does support drilling in ANWR.
Late Update: Here’s a clip of Ehrlich getting testy on the show, telling a caller he doesn’t “kiss anybody’s butt.” When the person protests, Ehrlich says, “Get him out of here … we don’t want to put up with that.” (Listen to all of the clips here.)
Listen:
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