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Candidate McAuliffe gets help on the stump from stars

By Julian Walker & Malcolm Venable, The Virginian-Pilot - 5/12/2009

NORFOLK

If there's a rock star among the three Democrats running for governor, it's Terry McAuliffe.

He's got a national profile, a healthy bank account and celebrity friends willing to vouch for his credentials.

Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am gave the campaign its latest injection of star power Monday, making stops in Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia and Richmond with McAuliffe

Another dose will come Thursday, when former President Bill Clinton is set to stump for his onetime fundraiser in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia.

High-profile endorsements attract attention, yet questions remain about whether they can persuade voters to support McAuliffe in the June 9 primary election.

Lacking McAuliffe's Rolodex, the other two Democrats in the race - state Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, and former Alexandria Del. Brian Moran - have relied on endorsements from local leaders to help make their case.

And in a low-turnout election, which primaries tend to be, Deeds and Moran think the backing of officials who voters know will hold more sway than celebrity endorsements.

Barack Obama used celebrities, including will.i.am, to his advantage in the presidential campaign last year.

McAuliffe, however, is in a statewide contest in which his opponents continue to hint that he is somehow a less authentic Virginian than they.

"We believe pretty strongly that Virginia Democrats are looking for someone who is grounded in the commonwealth, someone who is fighting for each local community across Virginia," Moran spokesman Jesse Ferguson said.

"Terry's done events all over the commonwealth, both big and small, with surrogates and without surrogates," countered McAuliffe spokeswoman Lis Smith. "And bringing in those surrogates is just one more way for Terry to communicate his message."

While the effectiveness of any endorsement is debatable, one local marketing executive said celebrity support helps.

"Anytime you can connect yourself to a person that someone else likes, I think that's a plus," said David Rourk, president of Rourk Public Relations in Virginia Beach. "That gets down to the retail politics of becoming 'top of mind' to voters."

In Norfolk on Monday, Courtney Johnson, 23, said she thought will.i.am's endorsement would, at the very least, get young people intrigued about McAuliffe and what he had to say.

But star power had its limits. Johnson was one of about 30 people who stopped by the event. Last month, state Sen. Yvonne Miller's endorsement of Deeds at Norfolk State University drew 50, according to his campaign.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com

Malcolm Venable, (757) 446-2662,malcolm.venable@pilotonline.com