Three Leaders' Chosen Ones
Early and Deep Support, Two for Obama and One for Clinton

By John Wagner, Tim Craig and David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, February 8, 2008

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine did not meet Barack Obama until 2005, when the freshman senator from Illinois went to Richmond to campaign for him. But the two Democrats immediately hit it off when they discovered some uncanny coincidences.

Both were Harvard-educated civil rights lawyers. Both had eschewed more lucrative careers after graduating, with Kaine taking a year off to be a missionary in Honduras and Obama becoming a community organizer in Chicago. Most striking of all: Both of their mothers have family ties to the small south-central Kansas town of El Dorado.

That personal bond, as well as overlapping policy priorities, led Kaine to become the first governor outside Obama's home state to endorse his campaign for president.

With Tuesday's primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District fast approaching, Kaine and D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) have accelerated their efforts on behalf of Obama, and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) is stepping up his campaigning for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.). Like Kaine, Fenty and O'Malley made early endorsements based on personal history and a shared vision for the future.

O'Malley's political relationship with Clinton began on her husband's presidential trip to Northern Ireland in 2001 and was strengthened by collaboration with her on homeland security issues after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Fenty met Obama at the 2004 Democratic national convention in Boston, and they have developed a kinship as young, "post-racial" politicians who share a commitment to D.C. voting rights.

All three area leaders, highly ambitious in their own right, are deeply invested in Tuesday's outcome, as shown by their appearances at rallies, promotion of their preferred candidates to the news media and efforts to mobilize their supporters.

"I do feel a personal stake, maybe even more than most, in wanting [Obama] to be successful," Kaine said. "I don't feel like it is in my power to deliver my state, but I am a competitive guy. When I endorse someone, I like to work hard for them and help them win."

Kaine's wife, Anne Holton, recalled the governor as being "giddy" after he met Obama in 2005.

Still, the governor surprised many pundits by getting behind Obama's candidacy so early. In 2004, while lieutenant governor, Kaine was an early supporter of the presidential bid of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.). At the time, many believed Kaine's support of Lieberman was intended to burnish his moderate credentials as he prepared to run for governor.

Kaine and Obama appear to be a more natural ideological fit. Both are progressive on many issues but couch their positions around reaching out to independents and Republicans. On the campaign trail, Obama has often talked about priorities Kaine shares with him, including investing more in early childhood education.

"I endorsed Senator Obama for a whole series of reasons, but one was practical," Kaine said. "I really do believe he has a better chance."

The stakes could be high for Kaine, said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia.

"He got out there early and has been a very prominent supporter, so it would be a major embarrassment for him if Obama did not carry Virginia," Sabato said. "On the flip side, it is a real feather in his cap politically if Obama can pull this off."

Kaine, who helped the Democrats retake control of the Virginia Senate this year, held a conference call with Obama volunteers across the state over the weekend to give them a pep talk. He has also helped Obama win other endorsements.

In the District, Fenty announced his support for Obama in July during an appearance at a community center. The two showed up dressed alike in navy suits with light blue ties, a symbolic match for politicians who are among a younger generation of leaders.

Fenty said he endorsed Obama in part because he agreed to push for full congressional representation for the District. But Fenty also identifies with Obama's position as an African American leader seeking to move beyond the racial politics of past generations.

"He won't just bring new ideas, but he is also the most likely to bring new people into the process," Fenty said last week. The admiration appears mutual. Obama called to congratulate Fenty after he won the Democratic mayoral primary in 2006.

Fenty, who like Obama has a white mother and a black father, was quickly grouped with other young "post-racial" politicians, including Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D). On Tuesday, Fenty spent the day with Booker in Newark stumping for Obama. Fenty also campaigned in New Hampshire for him.

And today, Fenty will formally open a storefront Obama campaign office in Southeast Washington.

In a city with no full voting member of Congress, there is no natural political future for a young mayor with unbounded ambition. Some watchers of D.C. politics have suggested that Fenty could win a high-profile job in an Obama administration, though others believe Fenty would be content being mayor for two or more terms.

As Clinton aides have downplayed their expectations for Maryland, O'Malley has been the least visible of the region's three leaders lately. But his aides insist that will change in the coming days. Since his endorsement in May, O'Malley has traveled out of the state for Clinton twice, both times to New Hampshire.

On the night of Super Tuesday, as O'Malley gathered with Clinton supporters at an Annapolis bar, he said that his commitment is strong and that he has left his schedule loose in the coming days to do anything Clinton's campaign asks of him. O'Malley is scheduled to appear in Annapolis today at a Clinton rally.

O'Malley said he was drawn to Clinton because of her leadership on homeland security and health care and for what he said would be her ability to restore the United States' stature in the world.

"There was no sense in delaying that endorsement," O'Malley said. "I'm glad I did endorse early."

Another big factor in O'Malley's decision was his relationship with Bill Clinton, who appeared in a television ad in the closing days of O'Malley's 2006 campaign for governor, urging voters to support "my good friend."

O'Malley's relationship with the former president and his wife blossomed in 2000, when O'Malley, then mayor of Baltimore, joined a presidential delegation traveling to Northern Ireland. O'Malley was performing in a Celtic rock band, playing songs that reflected his Irish heritage.

O'Malley became heavily involved in the following years with the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist group that had served as the incubator for much of Bill Clinton's agenda. And after the 2001 terrorist attacks, O'Malley worked with Hillary Clinton to bolster homeland security. O'Malley carved out a niche on the issue, citing the proximity of Baltimore's port to Washington.

O'Malley was the second governor to support Clinton. The two Democrats addressed reporters and other onlookers at Annapolis's City Dock. Clinton spoke at length, without notes, about O'Malley's tenure as mayor and also praised his early period as governor.

Aides say O'Malley would have campaigned more heavily for Clinton in other states if not for the legislature's special session in November.

Some analysts have wondered whether O'Malley is keeping a lower profile because of predictions that Obama might win the state. "He hasn't been knocking himself out," said Matthew Crenson, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Others suggest that, if Clinton wins, O'Malley loyalists will still be well-positioned to garner administration appointments and that Clinton will be quick to return O'Malley's calls. Few expect O'Malley to leave his governorship so early in his first term.

"They appreciate the significance of his coming out so early," said Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert).