Welcome to The Rally. Every weekday morning from now until election day, TBD will tell you what you need to know about the Maryland governor’s race. The showdown between incumbent Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley and Republican former governor Bob Ehrlich is entering its final month, and TBD is prepared to dish about the race’s debates, polls, issues, endorsements and controversies from now until Nov. 2.

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EHRLICH PUSHES BACK ON COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY

In an appearance in College Park yesterday, the governor pressed his advantage on higher education issues. Here's TBD's story:

Gov. Martin O'Malley used an appearance Monday at the University of Maryland to highlight the stark differences between his higher education policies and those of former governor Bob Ehrlich, but the incumbent also said he couldn't promise four more years of frozen tuition...

O'Malley has begun preparing his budget for next year, and said his administration was still debating a tuition increase. "The likelihood is that we will hold to very, very modest inflationary increases," O'Malley said.

"The four-year freeze was designed to undo the damage that Bob Ehrlich did with a forty-percent increase," he added. "Now that we've gotten back to the mid-range, we believe that if we continue to hold to very modest inflationary increases, we'll continue to make Maryland a more affordable system compared to other states in the country."

A few hours later, the Ehrlich campaign put out a release saying O'Malley had already revealed his plans for higher education — in a budget document last year, the governor was planning 5.3 percent tuition increases each year.

The release is somewhat bold, as Ehrlich is inviting an extended debate about college affordability. It's a debate where O'Malley has the easiest applause line: he increased college tuition 3 percent. Ehrlich drove it up 40 percent. Of course, applause lines don't always tell the whole story. Do you want the whole story? Check back later today, when The Facts Machine processes Ehrlich's talking points.

For more on O'Malley's university visit, check out College Park Patch.

UH, THAT BELONGS TO VIRGINIA

The Republican Governors Association released their second ad of the campaign Friday, but a little birdie only alerted us to an error yesterday. It's pretty common for political ads to contain factual mistakes, but it's not often that they're in a visual.

Take a look at the map of Maryland that appears around the :15 second mark of the ad. Then, take a look at the map of Maryland that appears below.

If you'll notice, the RGA ad has something extra. In their universe, Virginia has ceded the lower portion of the Delmarva peninsula to Maryland. O'Malley's team can only hope the national organization will encourage Ehrlich to campaign there.

GOVERNOR KICKS OFF "ON YOUR SIDE" TOUR

The College Park appearance was also the first stop on O'Malley's "On Your Side" tour, which will take the governor to all 24 of Maryland's counties before election day.

The tour has two props. O'Malley has a Winnebago plastered with campaign imagery. It's been referred to as both the 'On Your Side Express' (Does that infringe on John McCain's trademark?) and 'Katie.' He's also bringing a kitchen table with him. Why? Apparently the kitchen table is where the O'Malley family always talked over important decisions when the governor was growing up.

EHRLICH IN WALKERSVILLE

Ehrlich spoke to farmers in Frederick County yesterday, and it sounds like his appeal to them had a lot in common with his appeal to small businesses in general. Fredrick Kunkle (unlike the county, there's only one 'e') wrote a good roundup on the event for the Washington Post:

Punctuated by moos from the adjacent barn, Ehrlich's talk focused on the themes that many farmers there wanted to hear: that state regulations had become punitive in the O'Malley administration, that the state government's hunger for revenue had overtaxed farmers and other small businesses, and that no one in Annapolis was standing up to the regulatory and confiscatory excesses coming from the Obama administration. ...

Robert Ramsburg, 66, a dairy farmer who operates the farm next to the Zimmerman's, said Attorney General Douglas Gansler, a Democrat who is running unopposed for a second term, would not be happy until he drags farmers off their land in handcuffs.

One thing to add: this story has some great names. Trego Zimmerman! Robert Ramsburg!

O'MALLEY CALLS FOR FORECLOSURE MORATORIUM

Following the lead of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Baltimore City), O'Malley and Gansler have called for a voluntary 60-day moratorium on foreclosures in the state. Jamie Smith Hopkins reports for the Baltimore Sun:

The officials were responding to widespread reports that executives with national companies have signed many legal documents for foreclosure cases without verifying that the information was accurate. Bank of America said Friday that it would delay foreclosures in 23 states as it investigated its process, following similar announcements by JPMorgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage. Maryland was not among the states.

Several states, including Massachusetts and Iowa, have launched investigations into documentation. Analysts have speculated that foreclosures could grind to a near halt in those 23 states — and possibly elsewhere — as lenders rush to determine whether they have been following rules. ...

Andy Barth, a spokesman for Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the Republican former governor of Maryland who is running against O'Malley, said that instead of telling mortgage servicers to halt proceedings, O'Malley should have "done more about providing good jobs" so residents didn't fall behind on their loans in the first place.

Confused about the robo-signing? TBD's NewsTalk interviewed a banking industry analyst Monday.

QUICK HITS

• Viewers submit questions for the upcoming debate. (WJZ)
• O'Malley: I'm protecting the environment. Ehrlich: You're using regulations to extract money from business. (Baltimore Business Journal)
• Columnist Thomas Schaller says long-term trends are protecting "Democratic hegemony" in Maryland. (Baltimore Sun)
• BGE is considering another rate increase. Will either candidate touch the subject? (Baltimore Sun)

TODAY'S SCHEDULE

• Mary Kane is in touring historic downtown Boonsboro in Washington County at 10 a.m. She then meets with small business owners in Hagerstown to discuss the Roadmap to 2020 at 11:30 a.m.

• Lieutenant governor Anthony Brown announces funding for a BRAC-related tranportation project in Aberdeen at 11 a.m.

• O'Malley and Baltimore County officials announce county crime stats from the first half of 2010 at 11:30 in Catonsville. The governor visits a retirement community in Owings Mills from 1 to 2 p.m., and then drops by the Woodlawn Community Center in Baltimore from 2:15 to 3 p.m.

• Kane ends the day at a state GOP "victory gala" at the Bethesda Hyatt at 7 p.m.

• Ehrlich has no public schedule.