Developer Aids Ehrlich

The Washington Post reports the far from earth-shattering news that a developer gave money to a politician, Gov. Bob Ehrlich in this case. Still, the story is a nice example of how money greases the wheels of politics and the state's campaign finance laws are easily subverted. Kingdom Gould III has given far more than $4000, the state's legal limit, to Ehrlich by making the donations through a series of limited liability corporations. Gould hopes his donations will help speed the construction of the ICC, an interchange at I-95, and and a proposed extention of Metro's Green Line which will allow him to contruct Konterra, a jumbo Reston-sized development, near Laurel.

Gould may be backing the wrong horse as Martin O'Malley leads Ehrlich according to the polls. Frankly, I am surprised that he hasn't invested heavily in the O'Malley campaign as well since, like the governor, he plans to move ahead with the ICC. While all legal, the public airing of staunch developer support for his campaign cannot exactly boost Ehrlich's support in Montgomery as candidates perceived as too pro-development took a sharp hit in the Democratic primary.