Nutter to campaign 'all-out' for Obama

Don't ask Mayor Nutter how he will spend his days in Denver next week during the four-day Democratic National Convention.

Other than plans to tour the city - he's never been there - his calendar has yet to be filled with the customary cocktail receptions, policy breakfasts and media interviews.

But Nutter is perfectly clear on the big-picture purpose of his trip out West. "I'm going to do whatever it takes, with an all-out full effort, to get Sen. [Barack] Obama elected president of the United States."

One of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's highest-profile Pennsylvania supporters in April's Democratic primary, the mayor concedes this isn't exactly the convention of his dreams.

"It is hard. I'm not saying it is easy," Nutter said in an interview. "Other than Sen. Clinton herself, I was tremendously disappointed she was not the nominee."

However, he added, "If she is enthusiastic about Sen. Obama, then all the Clinton supporters should be enthusiastic about Sen. Obama. We all need to grow up and get ready for a historic general election and pull together as good Democrats."

Acknowledging the still-open wounds, Nutter added: "It is also very important for the supporters of Sen. Obama to extend their hand of friendship, relationship and partnership and healing to make it that much easier."

In his eyes, the convention, which runs Monday through Thursday, is the primary vehicle for doing so. "It is a way to motivate and activate people and get them ready for what basically is a bit of a sprint leading to Election Day," Nutter said.

At the convention - it will be his fifth - Nutter will busy himself attending events hosted by the National Conference of Democratic Mayors as well as those held for the Pennsylvania delegation, and possibly participating in forums on homelessness and health care.

As mayor of the nation's sixth-largest city, he said, he hopes to focus attention on urban issues, including public safety, education, jobs and economic development, support for infrastructure renewal, sustainability, and poverty.

But in terms of sending Obama to the White House, most of that work will come after the convention ends.

To be sure, Nutter said, he will campaign just as hard for Obama as he did for Clinton - and then some.

Referring to recent conversations with Obama campaign aides in Pennsylvania, he said: "What I shared with them is, Sen. Obama will ultimately get a little extra effort from me in the general election because as much as I was 101 percent for Clinton in the primary, I was not against Sen. Obama; I was just for Sen. Clinton. In the general election, I am for Sen. Obama, more than 101 percent, and I am against Sen. [John] McCain. So it is a heightened support."

State Rep. Josh Shapiro (D., Montgomery), an Obama supporter, said, "We are going to use the mayor to give speeches, coordinate field efforts, and probably do things outside of Philly, too. He is very popular."

A recent poll by Franklin and Marshall College shows Obama leading McCain in Pennsylvania by eight percentage points - and by 75 percentage points in Philadelphia.

Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin and Marshall, said he was unsure to what extent Nutter could influence voters in Philadelphia's suburbs, where support for Obama and McCain is about even.

But as far as Obama's strongholds - among voters who are African American, college-educated, or under 34 years old - Nutter can play an important role. "He has to make sure they don't get complacent," Yost said. "To carry Pennsylvania, Barack Obama is going to need a huge margin out of Philadelphia."