guest: well, governorer lick and i did -- governor erlich and i did the unthinkable.he last republican governor before governor was speer agnew. and the people of maryland decided they wanted to take a different course. i think when you look at governor erlich's record and think of my responsibility on behalf of governor of small business reform and certainly dealing with a number of other issues, we met, i think, what we were asked to do. and we were able to reach people and talk to them. we, like so many others, got caught up in the political climate of that day. there was a general mood, anything republican was a problem for folks. what you have to understand, james, is that governor erlich was retired from office with a 62% job approval. and it had very little to do with what the governor was doing but had everything to do with the fact that people wanted to send a message to the republican party and he was the only republican governor that year to lose. we are still a very democrat state in maryland. and they -- and they felt that they wanted to send a message. a

guest: well, governorer lick and i did -- governor erlich and i did the unthinkable. the last republican governor before governor was speer agnew. and the people of maryland decided they wanted to take a different course. i think when you look at governor erlich's record and think of my responsibility on behalf of governor of small business reform and certainly dealing with a number of other issues, we met, i think, what we were asked to do. and we were able to reach people and talk to them. we, like so many others, got caught up in the political climate of that day. there was a general mood, anything republican was a problem for folks. what you have to understand, james, is that governor erlich was retired from office with a 62% job approval. and it had very little to do with what the governor was doing but had everything to do with the fact that people wanted to send a message to the republican party and he was the only republican governor that year to lose. we are still a very democrat state in maryland. and they -- and they felt that they wanted to send a message.

so governor erlich was not unelected nor did i lose the senate race because of our views on the issues. we did listen to the people and they responded. but i know the governor heard, i heard many times, i just couldn't vote for you. i had to send a message to the party. you know, that's what happens in politics. people find ways to get a message through. sometimes their casualties in that process. host: what would republicans do different this time? guest: donna, what would we do different? i think what we would do different first and foremost is acknowledge that we've learned the lesson, >> we have made the mistakes that put this on the opposite track of the american people. we will now step forward with a bold vision and bold colors as reagan used to say that reflects the concerns of the american people that are addressed to the policies and programs that we think will empower you and uplift you. government should not be in the business of managing and controlling and deciding. it should be in the business of creating pathways to you can have the american dream however you define it

guest: well, governorer lick and i did -- governor erlich and i did the unthinkable. the last republican governor before governor was speer agnew. and the people of maryland decided they wanted to take a different course. i think when you look at governor erlich's record and think of my responsibility on behalf of governor of small business reform and certainly dealing with a number of other issues, we met, i think, what we were asked to do. and we were able to reach people and talk to them. we, like so many others, got caught up in the political climate of that day. there was a general mood, anything republican was a problem for folks. what you have to understand, james, is that governor erlich was retired from office with a 62% job approval. and it had very little to do with what the governor was doing but had everything to do with the fact that people wanted to send a message to the republican party and he was the only republican governor that year to lose. we are still a very democrat state in maryland. and they -- and they felt that they wanted to send a message.