Harry Jaffe, The Examiner
2008-02-08 08:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

For anyone who’s slept through the last year of local and national politics, allow me to point out that Barack Obama and Adrian Fenty are so similar it’s almost scary.

More on that later; first, a little tale about the behind-the-scenes birth of the Potomac primary, to be held Tuesday in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Let me take you back to last winter, when District of Columbia Democrats attempted to big foot their way into national prominence by becoming the “first in the nation primary.” Like brethren in Florida and Michigan, the D.C. Dems got swatted down by the national party planners.

But wait!

Terry Lierman, a force in Maryland and national Democratic circles, had an idea. He called Jack Evans, longtime D.C. Council member, last April.

“I have a better idea,” Lierman said. “Why not get together with Maryland and Virginia and hold the first Chesapeake primary on the same day, a week after Super Tuesday?”

Lierman was Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer’s chief of staff at the time. But he had deep roots in national politics. He had served as Howard Dean’s finance chairman for his presidential run.

Lierman argued that having a joint primary would be a win-win-win. Activists could get organized around it; it would boost the economy; it would raise the visibility of the mid-Atlantic region.

Lierman was betting that Super Tuesday’s vote would not be decisive for any candidate, which would focus national attention on the Potomac primary.

“Jack liked the idea,” Lierman tells me. “I called Mayor Fenty. He was on board.”

And the Potomac primary was put in motion.

“It was a calculated risk,” Lierman said. “It turned out to be a home run.”

Now to Fenty and Obama, separated at birth.

It was no surprise that Fenty came out early for Barack Obama. Think of it: Both were considered upstarts when they made their move from legislative to executive office. Obama was a back bencher in the Illinois legislature; Fenty was a young Council member derided as inexperienced by his colleagues.

Both benefited by being underestimated by political opponents. Both come from mixed-race parents; both can be magnetic from the stump.

“They are almost mirror images of one another,” said Jack Evans. “Youth plus energy.”

In the comparison between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who would be better for D.C. if they make it to the White House? I would say it’s even. The Clintons were very attentive to the District’s needs when Bill Clinton was president; Obama has strong ties to D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton – and to Fenty.

I asked Fenty if he could be lured to a Cabinet post in an Obama administration.

“No way,” he said. “Being mayor is the best job in the world.”

Fenty clearly adores being the mayor of his home town. But when the president calls, most politicians find it very hard to say no.

Harry Jaffe has been covering the Washington area since 1985. E-mail him at hjaffe@washingtonian.com.