WASHINGTON - Heading west on Interstate 70 between Frederick and Hagerstown, it's hard to miss the sign that there is a congressional campaign here: "Bartlett for Congress" is emblazoned across the roof of a roadside barn.

It's not the only sign of a campaign in the 6th District. But it's close.

Six-term incumbent Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Frederick, has spent much of the campaign doing constituent work while his two challengers run low-budget campaigns that appear to be flying under the radar of most voters in the sprawling Western Maryland district.

"What race?" asked John Bambacus, a Frostburg State University politics professor.

"If yard signs and posters and bumper stickers are any indicator, the only ones I've seen are for the incumbent, Roscoe Bartlett," Bambacus said. "I don't even know who his opponent is."

His opponents are Democrat Kenneth Bosley, a retired engineer and schoolteacher from Baltimore County mounting his fourth bid for Congress, and Green Party member Greg Hemingway, 34, a certified public accountant from Lutherville.

Bartlett himself has yet to meet his challengers face to face. When reminded recently that he faces opposition this time around, he chuckled.

"Never met him," he said of Bosley. When told that he has a Green Party challenger, he reacted with genuine surprise.

"Is that so?" he asked.

Hemingway all but concedes the race to Bartlett, saying his full-time job makes campaigning difficult. He said his campaign is more about building the party in Maryland and offering a choice to independent voters, who make up 13 percent of the registered voters in the district.

"Those people are not Democrats or Republicans for a reason," Hemingway said of the 50,627 independents and 682 Greens registered in the district for the primary. "I think the voters that believe in Green-like values deserve a choice."

But Bosley said he is in it to win.

The Democrat, who ran three times in the 2nd District before redistricting put him in the 6th, said he travels the district constantly, frequently staying overnight in Frederick and Hagerstown, attending various political club meetings and community events.

"I'm in touch with more people than my opponent is," he said. "He may be in touch with people by congressional correspondence, but I'm personally in touch with them."

That is all well and good, Bambacus said, but it is a flawed strategy for a serious bid in the district.

"In the general election campaign, you need to work through the party apparatus, and you need to work your base," he said. "There are still strong Democratic organizations here. Even though the district is Republican, it's also a fairly independent district."

While the 6th District is the only one in the state where Republicans outnumber Democrats, the GOP does not have a majority. The 183,962 Republicans registered there in February made up 48 percent of the district, while the 142,662 Democrats accounted for 37 percent.

Bosley insists he has a campaign organization, but he is tight-lipped about it.

"We have an organization going, but we don't disclose who they are and where they are, because we don't want to get attacked or derailed by the opposition," he said. "They will pull all kinds of dirty tricks on you."

But Bartlett does not need dirty tricks, Bambacus said: Besides having a Republican registration edge, the sheer size of the district plays in his favor. The 6th District is the largest in Maryland, stretching just over 140 miles from northern Baltimore County in the east to Garrett County in the west.

"Because the district is so large geographically, incumbency is a huge advantage," Bambacus said.

Those advantages lessen Bartlett's need to campaign.

"It's the so-called 'Rose Garden strategy,' where you stay at home and do your job," Bambacus said. "He has been very attentive to this district, visiting post offices, meeting with elected officials, and cutting ribbons, etc."

But that does not mean Bartlett is in touch with constituents, Bosley said. He said Bartlett has not delivered for the district, and has failed to protect the Western Maryland way of life.

"Particularly the rural counties have been so overrun and so corrupted by outside influences . . . developers come in and destroy the life," Bosley said. "Our pleasant living has been destroyed by all these competing influences."

Much of Bosley's platform revolves around attacks on Bartlett, who he said has not done enough for the district.

Hemingway's platform, on the other hand, tends toward Green Party values like decentralizing government toward locals and promoting social justice.

"We have people working two and three jobs to make ends meet," he said. "We need a living wage standard, and I do believe in universal healthcare."

Hemingway also believes in promoting a peaceful American foreign policy, which includes reducing overseas military presence.

"I don't think this country can afford to be the dominant military force in the world forever," he said. "We're mortgaging our children's futures with government spending that's out of control."

Bartlett -- consistently rated among the most conservative members of Congress -- agrees spending is out of control. He advocates "less government, less taxes, and less regulation. We've got way too much of all three of them."

But he differs from Hemingway on how to cut spending. Bartlett opposes government spending on anything not specified in the Constitution, a position that would prohibit funding for the U.S. Department of Education, for example, or healthcare for anyone who is not a member of the military.

The Green and the Republican do agree on the state of American civil liberties.

Hemingway said the Bush administration has created a "culture of fear" in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Bartlett has also voiced concerns about "disturbing" elements of the USA PATRIOT Act and their effect on civil liberties.

"Once you start down that slippery road of dictating where to abridge someone's civil liberties, where does it stop?" asked Bartlett, who said he would continue to fight anything he sees as an infringement on liberties.

That is a fight Bartlett will be able to continue in the next Congress, if history is any indication. Except for his first election, in 1992, Bartlett has beaten his challengers by at least 10 percentage points.

He is also well-funded: In his most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission, Bartlett reported raising $526,971 by Sept. 30, much of which he has given away to other campaign committees. But he still had $286,524 in the bank, three weeks before Election Day.

Bosley's campaign committee has not filed any reports with the FEC, suggesting that he has not raised the minimum $5,000 that would require a filing. He would not discuss his fund-raising.

"It has a detrimental effect on people who are planning on giving you a contribution," Bosley said. "They might think that you don't have sufficient funds to win."

Hemingway expects to raise a total of $500 to $1,000 for his campaign.

Despite his considerable financial advantage, Bartlett's remaining campaign plan is relatively inexpensive. He said he intends to continue being a "good congressman," which he said means "vote the way your constituents would like you to vote and do good constituent services."

"They'll either vote for me or against me," he said of 6th District voters. "Nobody's going to vote for them (Bosley and Hemingway), because they don't know them."

Copyright © 2004 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism