Jill Lemke survived the frost of the Iowa caucuses, so the weekend winds near the Canton waterfront seemed balmy by comparison as the campaign volunteer offered Hillary Clinton bumper stickers to the few scurrying shoppers who would have them.
"It's been kind of a roller coaster," said the 40-year-old Baltimore City planner, who has watched Clinton bounce from early losses to victories and back again. There has been no dampening of enthusiasm among Clinton supporters, Lemke insisted, who know "it is going to be a long campaign."
Even before tomorrow's Super Tuesday caucuses and primaries, the presidential contest has steamrolled into Maryland, which, along with Virginia and the District of Columbia, votes a week from tomorrow in what are shaping up as important races testing the resolve and strength of the remaining candidates.
Maryland is a place where Clinton and her allies are trying to galvanize support, fighting against a surge by Sen. Barack Obama that has revealed itself in polls that show a tightening Democratic contest.
The state's large black population and enthusiastic volunteers are energizing the Obama campaign. But Clinton advocates in the region say they are prepared.
"Everybody [talks] about his momentum, but Hillary Clinton continues to lead in the national polls," said Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a Clinton campaign national co-chairwoman. "Once it goes to a two-person race, of course you expect it to tighten. We think that Senator Clinton will maintain her lead and that she is going to triumph on Super Tuesday."
Tomorrow's contests are unlikely to produce a winner, however, because of Democratic rules that award delegates in proportion to votes received.
Mikulski led a mini rally Saturday in Baltimore, firing up about 50 volunteers before they fanned out to markets, tourist attractions and shopping centers to distribute stickers and recruit new helpers.
The event was held at a union hall near the Ravens football stadium, a symbol of the kind of traditional Democratic support that Clinton has tapped into in Maryland. The New York senator has the backing of Gov. Martin O'Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, and is relying on teachers, government workers and other organized labor groups to staff a get-out-the-vote effort.
"There's a lot of focus on turning out known supporters," said Ray Hoffman, 46, medical director of a city mental health agency.
Hoffman called Obama "a more vulnerable general election candidate," and said Clinton "would be a better president."
In the Washington suburbs, her campaign is benefiting from many longtime supporters and former administration officials of President Bill Clinton, who remains popular.
The campaign received a boost over the weekend when Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson announced his endorsement. Johnson, leader of the state's second-largest county, which is majority African-American, previously backed Obama, but switched his allegiance after a dispute with another Obama supporter, campaign workers said.
Baltimore City Councilman James B. Kraft, a Clinton backer, acknowledged Obama's momentum, but said Clinton "has built a large base of support" that should prove resilient.
"I would like to see a Hillary-Obama ticket," Kraft said. "I'm not against Obama; I'm for Clinton."
But that base might not be enough to combat Obama in Maryland, Washington and Virginia, which together are taking part in what many are calling the Potomac Primary. Obama led Clinton in a survey conducted for The Sun early last month - before his commanding win in South Carolina - and 6 in 10 black voters said they were supporting him.
About 300 people packed the opening of an Obama headquarters in Towson on Friday, said Kathleen Cahill, a Towson lawyer who turned over her spacious offices near the Baltimore County courthouse to the Obama operation.
Since then, the office has been buzzing with activity. Young workers who helped with the South Carolina victory have arrived in Maryland, catching a few hours' sleep in back rooms before rising to dispatch canvassers.
"There's an excitement in this campaign that I have never seen," said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, co-chairman of Obama's Maryland effort, calling the crew that the campaign sent here "14 superstars."
The Obama campaign wanted to dispatch Cummings to Connecticut yesterday, a state that is voting tomorrow. But Cummings insisted on remaining in Maryland.
"I thought it was more important to stay here, to make sure that he wins here," Cummings said.
Carrying a clipboard with printed lists of Democratic voters, Donnell Zeigler, 26, was knocking on doors Saturday in the Hillendale neighborhood in which he grew up, asking voters whether they plan to support Obama. If they said yes, Zeigler asked them to sign the paper. The campaign would contact them later, making sure that they vote in the primary.
"Eighty percent of the people who do sign, they say, come out and vote," said Zeigler, a Temple University graduate who works in the Baltimore County planning office.
Baltimore County has a growing black population, and is considered a bellwether in state elections. The Hillendale neighborhood of brick-faced attached houses built in the 1960s is about 85 percent black, and while many residents were reluctant to answer door-knocks, "once you say Barack Obama, people are kind of energized," Zeigler said.
Obama has launched television and radio ads in Washington, Maryland and Virginia. One spot airing on a rock station features a young narrator who asks listeners to send a text message if they want to join the campaign. "Our generation has turned out in record numbers across the country and made the difference - now it's your turn," says the narrator.
Some of Obama's most visible Maryland supporters, including Cummings and Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, have scheduled a rally in Annapolis tonight.
Clinton allies say they feel no friction, and believe that the party will emerge unified after the primaries.
"We view this as a spirited, spirited contest on who is going to be the Democratic standard-bearer," Mikulski said. "I know that Senator Clinton does not view Senator Obama as an adversary."
"There were sparks and so on on both sides a few weeks ago," Mikulski said, but emotions have cooled.
On news shows yesterday, however, Clinton had sharp words for Obama. She accused him of distorting her positions on Iraq and driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. Speaking with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week, she called Obama's health care mailings "misleading" and "so reminiscent of old 'Harry and Louise' talking about how, 'Oh, the sky will fall if we try to have universal health care.'" It was a reference to the early 1990s advertising campaign by the health insurance industry that helped sink the Clinton administration's push for health care reform.
Clinton stood by a campaign strategy memo that said Obama was untested and unprepared for a Republican attack, while also allowing herself to look ahead to a one-on-one matchup with Sen. John McCain, who appears poised to secure the Republican nomination after tomorrow's primaries.
"I honestly believe that it would be a tremendous contest between Senator McCain and myself," she said. "I think I can draw the contrasts and stand on that stage with him."
david.nitkin@baltsun.com
Maryland primary
Maryland's presidential primary elections take place Feb. 12. Only registered Republicans may vote in the GOP primary, and only registered Democrats may vote in the Democratic primary.