What were the political goals of the Confederacy early in the war with the Union?

The 1862 Confederate invasions in the East and the West were based on the South's political agenda. Confederate President Jefferson Davis believed that Union support in the border States was weak. They could politically join the South based on successes by Confederate Generals Bragg and Lee. The Confederate Congress had designated that Maryland was a border State that fit in with the political objective of the South becoming an independent nation. What Davis saw in Maryland's potential was this:

1. It was a slave State; and

2. Maryland had a culture similar to the South and had economic interests with the Southern States.

On the political diplomatic front, Davis instructed his diplomats in England and France point out that it would only be fair to have a mediated peace agreement with the North contingent on allowing the citizens of Maryland vote on whether they wished to secede or not. He emphasized that the Lincoln Administration had violated the Constitutional rights of the citizens of Maryland by the use of force and intimidation, which was correct.

Davis hoped to influence the 1862 US midterm elections in both gubernatorial and congressional races.

The goal was to reduce the power of the radical Republicans by demonstrating their lack of concern about the suspension of certain Constitutional rights. Which in fact US President Lincoln did.

Also, Davis believed that a successful invasion of the North would expose the fact that the more powerful North was unable to protect its own territory.