Voters might expect governors and congressional representatives to campaign for a presidential candidate.
But for a few Howard officials throwing their support behind U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the adage is true: All politics is local.
“As elected officials, we all have to collaborate,” said Howard County Councilman Calvin Ball, D-District 2.
“Challenges at the presidential level trickle down and make local decisions more difficult.” Ball and councilwoman Jen Terr-
asa, D-District 3,
have endorsed Obama, D-Ill. They are joined by Del. Guy Guzzone, D-Howard, state Sen. James Robey, D-Howard, Attorney General Doug Gansler and U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-District 7, which includes Howard and Baltimore counties and Baltimore City.
Riding the momentum of Obama?s win in the Iowa caucuses, the six officials are hosting a party Tuesday night to watch the New Hampshire primary.
“This is a way of us getting together and getting ourselves fired up,” Robey said.
The effect of Robey?s endorsement depends on what voters think of him as a state senator, he said.
“It might help, and it might hurt,” he said, adding he hopes his supporters will support Obama.
A group of Howard Republicans also is planning to organize behind presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, said Ivan Betancourt, president of the Howard County Republican Club.
Local politicians campaigning for a national candidate is common, and many in the state legislature are doing so, said Matthew Crenson, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore City.
“Political parties are highly decentralized and have to rely on local figures,” he said.
Campaigning doesn?t detract from local issues, because many officials look at it as an investment.
“If their candidate wins on the national level, they will have access to national policy-making, which may bring benefits to the state or local level,” he said.
However, like many endorsements, local politicians? support may have little weight in swaying voters, said Richard Vatz, professor of political science at Towson University.
“Local endorsements of national candidates have no history of being effective,” he said.
