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Former Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich made several public appearances in New Hampshire this past weekend, fueling speculation that the ex-governor and former four-term congressman is considering joining the crowded field of likely 2016 Republican presidential contenders.
The 56-year-old Ehrlich spoke at a GOP dinner in Nashua on Friday evening and was a guest speaker at a lobster bake hosted by a group of Young Republicans in Laconia in Belknap County on Saturday. He was later scheduled to attend a chili cookout in Strafford County before returning to Baltimore.
“I’m rusty. I haven’t done this in a while,” the former governor told the Washington Post. “But I would like to be a voice that’s heard not just in Maryland, but in the country.”
Ehrlich, who was defeated for reelection by Democrat Martin O’Malley in 2006, suffered a lopsided defeat in trying to regain the governor’s office four years ago, again losing to O’Malley — that time by a staggering 268,000 votes, or more than fourteen percentage points.
In a telephone interview with the Post, Ehrlich said that he has spent much of the past year promoting his book “America: Hope for Change,” a 272-page political manifesto published last autumn. Ehrlich’s book received a glowing review from former New Hampshire governor John H. Sununu — a mover and shaker in the state’s first-in-the-nation primary.
Hard to imagine he’ll find much support on the national stage after the beating he took in 2010. Then again, Rick Santorum pretty much proved that Republican primary voters are willing to overlook that sort of thing.
Seems like running for president has become an easy way for washed up politicians to sell a few books and eat some free pancakes.