Democratic Supporters in Area Rally for Their Candidates; McCain in Norfolk

About 200 supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton gathered in front of the Maryland State House in Annapolis this afternoon for a rally that brought out the state's top political leaders who urged voters to elect the first woman president.

Dubbed "Women for Hillary," Clinton's mother, Dorothy Rodham, and brother, Hugh Rodham, also attended the rally. Clinton (N.Y.) was scheduled to campaign in Washington state today.

Her main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), was also stumping today in Washington state, which holds its caucuses tomorrow -- but both are expected to return to the region this weekend to ramp up their campaigns for Tuesday's primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District.

Earlier this morning in the District, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) was on hand for the opening of a campaign office for Obama at 1225 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. About 150 supporters waved signs in front of the office. This afternoon a group of veterans rallied for Obama at the American Legion post in Silver Spring.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has endorsed Clinton in the primary contest. Fenty and Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) have endorsed Obama. All three have been working for their candidates this week.

At the Annapolis rally, O'Malley said, "I'm looking forward to the day when my daughters and every other American can proudly say the words 'Madame President.' " He was joined at the podium by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (Md.) and former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

Mikulski told the crowd that the election "is not about gender, it's about an agenda."

Jane DeCourcey, a part-time 911 police dispatcher, drove an hour and a half with her young daughter and mother from rural Cecil County, because "economically, we were in great shape when her husband was in office." DeCourcey said she likes the idea of Bill Clinton being back in the White House, "two heads are better than one."

This evening, the DC Latina PAC will host an endorsement event for Clinton in Columbia Heights.

Two dozen veterans and Obama supporters from Maryland, Virginia and the District turned out for a rally at the American Legion post in downtown Silver Spring this afternoon, saying that Obama offered a better solution to the Iraq war and the treatment of war veterans than Clinton or McCain.

The Veterans for Obama group, joined by Peter Franchot, Maryland's comptroller and a draftee from 1968 to 1970, said Obama would restore American prestige and ensure that service members hurt in the war on terror would receive proper medical care. But most of all, they said, they trusted Obama to lead the country out of Iraq.

"We must end this war now," said Rushern L. Baker III, a former state delegate and a judge advocate general with the Army. "We need a president who gets that."