Local power brokers throw their muscle behind a wide presidential field

Given her status as Wellesley College's most famous alumna, it's probably not a surprise that Senator Hillary Clinton of New York holds a wide lead in recruiting political power brokers from Boston's western suburbs to support her presidential campaign.

But Clinton isn't the only candidate who has made a priority of recruiting local state senators, representatives, mayors, and selectmen as campaign allies. Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, former governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, and Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, have also picked off several area politicians.

With the Massachusetts primary moved up to Feb. 5, presidential candidates will soon need politically savvy allies who can muster dedicated volunteers to the polls, to phone banks, and into snowy streets for door-to-door canvassing.

And perhaps most importantly, those volunteers are only a short drive from New Hampshire, where the first make-or-break battle of the 2008 presidential race is well underway.

"Getting help from political leaders in Massachusetts who can help deliver troops to make phone calls and knock on doors can really be helpful," said Paul Cellucci of Hudson, who served as governor and US Ambassador to Canada. Cellucci is backing former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani for the Republican nomination. "We're sending a lot of people from Massachusetts to New Hampshire."

A survey of nearly 200 state and local politicians by Globe West found that dozens have already signed on with major presidential candidates. Although the former first lady holds a clear lead in recruiting, other candidates have also scored key endorsements.

State Representative Thomas Conroy, for example, said he is supporting Obama because of what he describes as the campaign's positive tone, and because Obama has "more experience in elective office" than Clinton. "He [Obama] thinks about solutions to our nation's challenges based on a wellspring of optimism and confidence rather than a skepticism based upon fear," said Conroy, who represents Lincoln, Sudbury, and Wayland. "And, as a former state senator, he understands that public service at the local level is crucially important to improving the day-to-day lives of Americans."

Obama has also landed support from state Representative David Linsky of Natick, Newton Alderman Stephen Linsky (no relation), and even former Upton selectman Alan Rosenfield, a member of the town's Republican Committee who said he is "disillusioned" with the GOP after eight years of George Bush.

Clinton strong in Newton

The Obama forces face an uphill battle against the Clinton contingent, which includes US Representatives Barney Frank and James McGovern; state Senators Pamela Resor, Susan Fargo, Richard Moore, Edward Augustus Jr., and Harriette Chandler; and seven state representatives, including majority whip Lida Harkins of Needham.

Clinton's support is particularly strong in Newton, where she is backed by state Representatives Kay Khan and Ruth Balser, Mayor David Cohen, and members of the Board of Aldermen, including Sydra Schnipper and Christine Snow Samuelson.

Led by Khan, Balser, Democratic State Committeewoman Martina Jackson, and state Representative Alice Peisch of neighboring Wellesley, Clinton's Newton backers have adopted the town of Salem, N.H., and have already made several trips there, going door to door to rally support among likely voters in the Jan. 8 Democratic primary. (Massachusetts residents will go to the polls with voters from 21 other states as part of the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday primary.)

Looking to N.H., Iowa

Peisch said she will also be rallying support for Clinton in Wellesley, "talking to people who have supported me, and attempting to persuade those who are currently undecided."

She said she would even put aside her own collegiate allegiance to work with the Wellesley College Democrats club.

"I'm a Smith grad," Peisch said with a laugh. "But hey, Wellesley College is in my district and they are an obvious base of support for Hillary."

Harkins, meanwhile, said she is working with House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi to organize a Dec. 30 bus trip to Portsmouth for local Clinton supporters. Harkins said she may even go to Iowa in the week before the Jan. 3 caucuses, which she called a piece of political Americana.

"I'm very curious to go to Iowa and work on the caucuses; it's something I've never done before," the longtime politician said. "Plus, this may be the last opportunity in my lifetime to elect a woman president."

Door-to-door efforts

Harkins and other politicians said that, unlike celebrity campaign endorsers, local politicians are accustomed to rolling up their sleeves and doing the tough campaign work, even if it means canvassing through 3 feet of snow or driving five hours from one small-town caucus to the next.

"I'll certainly be going door-to-door for her [Clinton]. It's the most effective way to get support for a candidate," state Representative Pam Richardson of Framingham said. "I'll be bringing some of my friends along, too. We also organized a table at the Framingham Concerts on the Common this year that was very well attended and a great place to talk to people."

But Clinton supporters aren't the only ones hitting the sidewalks and living rooms of New Hampshire.

State Representative Paul Loscocco of Holliston, the Massachusetts cochairman of McCain's campaign, said his candidate has led followers by example in that regard. At a recent rally in Hollis, N.H., Loscocco said, voters seemed to connect with McCain in a way that a local politician like himself found familiar. McCain's "strength really is retail politics," said Loscocco.

Among Republican members of the state House of Representatives, Loscocco is the lone defection from Romney, though some Republican state senators from around Massachusetts have endorsed his rivals.

According to Romney campaign spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom, the former governor has wrapped up the support of the other 18 Republicans in the House, including Richard Ross of Wrentham and Karyn Polito, who represents Shrewsbury.

Backing for Giuliani

In addition to Cellucci - who along with EMC Corp. founder Richard Egan of Hopkinton, has raised more than $1 million for Giuliani - the former mayor of New York has garnered the support of Shrewsbury Selectman John Lebeaux. Lebeaux, an independent who lived in New York prior to the Giuliani administration, said he has been impressed both by his candidate's efforts to clean up the city and by his decisive response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "I think our country needs a leader who can be counted on to perform with thoughtful preparation and decisiveness every day he or she is in office," Lebeaux said.

Former senator Fred Thompson and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee round out the Republican field, but no one who responded to the Globe's survey identified themselves as a supporter of either man.

On the Democratic side, while former senator John Edwards has lined up some key allies statewide, including former attorney general L. Scott Harshbarger, his lone political ally in the western suburbs appears to be Waltham City Councilor Robert Logan. Logan said he will do whatever he can for Edwards, whom he picked because he believes Clinton and Obama are both too inexperienced to be president. Edwards, Logan said, "was also right on the war [in Iraq] from the start and he has the strongest position on global warming."

A good feeling

But just because Logan might be feeling a bit lonely, that doesn't necessarily mean he should be feeling discouraged.

Newton's Kay Khan said she felt a little uncomfortable supporting Governor Deval Patrick in the state primary two years ago while many of her political friends and colleagues were supporting former attorney general Tom Reilly, but ended up more than satisfied with her work after the votes were counted.

"The election certainly doesn't depend on us entirely," Khan said. "But you can make a difference."

By Ralph Ranalli, The Boston Globe, December 27, 2007