Delivering an Endorsement, and Trading Heaps of Praise

He effusively praised her as a champion of working families and a leader on homeland security who could bring the country together. She praised him -- at greater length -- for his willingness to tackle tough challenges and give voice to those who feel "invisible."

And with that, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's endorsement of the presidential candidacy of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton became official yesterday.

The two Democrats addressed a throng of reporters and other onlookers assembled at Annapolis's historic City Dock, with television cameras positioned to capture the State House dome in the background on an overcast morning.

"It is going to take a strong leader to reverse the catastrophic blunders of the Bush years," O'Malley said, with the senator from New York by his side and his 16-year-old daughter, Grace, hovering behind him. "She is ready today. She is ready to lead."

O'Malley said Clinton is a leader who cares about policy more than partisanship and would unite the country when she takes office in 2009. And, he said, "If George Bush won't end the war, she will bring our troops home safe."

Clinton spoke at length about O'Malley's tenure as mayor of Maryland's largest city, saying that "Martin instilled a sense of belief and possibility in the people of Baltimore" and relating how the two worked together on homeland security after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Clinton also praised O'Malley's leadership on the recent passage of a "living wage" bill, which made Maryland the first state to require government contractors to pay significantly more than the minimum wage.

"When he decides he's going to get behind a cause or an issue, it happens," Clinton said.

Left unmentioned was O'Malley's endorsement in the 2004 presidential election of former Vermont governor Howard Dean (D).

"Martin O'Malley's judgment when it comes to endorsements is an open question," said Dan Ronayne, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

Absent from the Annapolis event was Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, who was a law school classmate at Harvard University of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), one of Clinton's rivals for the Democratic nomination. "I haven't been watching the race with an eye toward an endorsement as yet," Brown said in an interview yesterday.

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) did not attend the announcement but showed up just as Clinton was leaving a coffee shop after the event. Miller planted a kiss on the senator's cheek before she was whisked away in a black sedan.

Miller later told reporters that though he is a big fan of Clinton, he is not sure she would be the party's most electable candidate in the general election.

"We want somebody who's going to win," Miller said. "We want the big enchilada. We want the White House."

-- John Wagner

The Governor Tells All

Talk about full disclosure.

On a form recently filed with the State Ethics Commission, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) answered all the required questions -- about property he owns, gifts he has received and whether he has a financial interest in any companies doing business with the state.

But he didn't stop there. One question asks: "Is there any additional information or interest you would like to disclose?"

O'Malley responded: "I used to perform in bars and restaurants with my band, O'Malley's March, for pay (we retired in 2005). These bars and restaurants, Fletcher's, Maggie Moore's, Raleigh's, Funk Box, Claddauch and Ryan's Daughter, are all regulated by the Baltimore City Health Department and Liquor Board as well as various state agencies."

O'Malley also noted that in 2005, as a member of the Screen Actors Guild, he continued to receive residuals from appearing in "Ladder 49," a 2004 movie starring John Travolta that was filmed in Baltimore and in which O'Malley played a character named Mayor. The two residual checks were donated to charity, the form indicates.

-- John Wagner