By Matthew E. Berger, NBC News/National Journal
© National Journal Group Inc.
Thursday, March 27, 2008

PHILADELPHIA -- When Michael Nutter was seeking to become mayor of Philadelphia last year, running against two black men and two white men, it didn't take long for race to become an issue. U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D) suggested at a debate that Nutter needed "to remind himself that he's an African American."

	For Michael Nutter, supporting a white woman over Barack Obama has raised more than a couple of eyebrows.

Despite the long odds, Nutter won the five-way Democratic primary last May with support from both blacks and whites in the city, and easily won the general election six months later. But less than three months into his tenure, race has once again taken center stage as his city and state bask in the spotlight of the Democratic presidential primary.

Nutter has become one of Hillary Rodham Clinton's active supporters in now-important Pennsylvania, serving as second fiddle to one of his predecessors, current Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D). Nutter takes interview requests from the national media and shifting his schedule to be on stage with the New York senator whenever she comes to Philadelphia to campaign.

But as a new mayor in a city with a predominantly black population, supporting a white woman over Barack Obama has raised more than a few eyebrows.

"There is some frustration," said Rev. Ellis Washington, president of Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity, which officially endorsed Obama earlier this month. "I do speak to some who look at Nutter's name and kind of shake their head."

Beyond color lines, Philadelphia political insiders say Nutter and Obama are essentially two of a kind, so the disconnect is surprising.

"Nutter came to office as the candidate of change," said John Baer, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, who calls himself a fan of the new mayor but authored a column last week questioning Nutter's support for Clinton.

"I hoped and expected the old politics of 'what's in it for me' would take a back seat to the politics of change, the politics of turn the page," Baer said. "It seemed like a good opportunity to deliver on what you ran on. I think it was a missed opportunity."

Washington said Obama has galvanized many in Philadelphia with a "fresh approach to leadership," much the way Nutter did a year before. And although few believe Nutter's support for Clinton will have a lasting effect on his reputation, they say it shows a disconnect between Nutter and the black community -- and has the effect of making the new mayor look like an impediment to a movement.

"A lot of people will tell you Philadelphia will come out and support Obama," Washington said. "The frustration is, why would the mayor be on the opposite side of what a majority of the city is going to do?"

For his part, Nutter insists that the election isn't about race and he supports Clinton because she would do the most to help cities like Philadelphia. But he is clearly unnerved by the scrutiny his support has received.

"I would venture to say it's not a disconnect, it's about freedom of choice," he said in a phone interview. "Black people have a right to be for whoever they want to be."

Local Politics, National Spotlight
Nutter was born and raised in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business in 1979. He spent nearly 15 years on the city council before resigning in 2006 to run for mayor.

He has garnered a lot of excitement in a short time. Eating dinner at the bar of a downtown restaurant, he is frequently stopped by local residents and out-of-towners who want to shake his hand and congratulate him. His meal is comped.

"I think he's heading toward a national spotlight," said Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia political analyst and former Democratic strategist. "He's being pulled as a spokesperson for urban issues."

When Nutter ran for mayor, he wasn't the favorite of the black community, said Kernie Anderson, general manager of the black radio station WURD. Two of his opponents -- Rep. Fattah and Dwight Evans -- were more high-profile candidates; the former was a longtime progressive black leader in the city, and the latter was a powerful state representative.

"Both of those guys would be perceived as quote, blacker than Michael," Anderson said. "He had to fight for every vote that he got. He had a head start because he was seen as a bit of a vanilla guy for the white crowds in the Northeast."

Nutter's primary victory surprised many, and he has had to build ties with those who backed Fattah and Evans.

"I would think that Michael had to do a lot of work to be felt as warm and fuzzy among many blacks," Washington said. "But at the end of the day, the black people of Philadelphia are eager to see one of their own in City Hall."

Nutter officially gave Clinton his support before he even took office, voicing his preference at a December fundraiser with former President Bill Clinton at his side. At the time, analysts said, it was a safe choice because Obama had yet to surge, and many believed urban voters would back Clinton partly because of her husband's urban renewal programs as president.

Nutter's personal ties to the Clintons go back to 1992, when, as a young Philadelphia city councilman, he was a delegate for Bill Clinton in his first White House bid.

Nutter forcefully rejects the notion that he should be following the preference of the black community or that he endorsed Clinton to curry favor from Rendell.

"As an emancipated black man, I don't take orders," he said.

But Rendell himself has suggested local Pennsylvania officials may be influenced by what he can do for them if they take his side. He told the Chicago Tribune earlier this month that when making a presidential endorsement, a county executive has to consider, "Does he want to tick off the governor who's responsible for sending a lot of funding into his county?"

Some have also speculated that Nutter's support for Clinton is just the latest chapter in his feud with Fattah. Obama taped phone messages for Fattah and sent a fundraising email on the congressman's behalf in the days before the May 2007 mayoral primary.

Nutter said he had conversations with both candidates -- in person and on the phone -- in the days before making his endorsement, and he said he specifically spoke with Obama about his support for Fattah.

"My endorsement of Sen. Clinton has less than zero to do with what happened last year," Nutter said. "That's petty, that's small. We had a man-to-man conversation; he explained his view on it, I explained mine. We moved on."

A Profile In Courage?
But black leaders say Nutter is ignoring an "emotional tsunami" of support for Obama in Philadelphia.

"It has become almost a phenomenon," said Jerome Mondesire, president of the NAACP's Philadelphia chapter. "People who have not participated in politics have decided this young man is their candidate."

Nutter dismisses the suggestion that he is going against his race. "We're not having a discussion of what white leaders are doing, because they can do what they want to do," he said. "But the black leaders are expected to support the black candidate. You know I reject that."

Nutter believes that his endorsement of Clinton will pull some sway in the city.

"There are some people out there who respect my judgment and know I went through a very deliberate process," he said. "I took the time and tried to figure out which candidate would best serve us in the White House and the general election. To some people, that would be influential."

But few others predict it will drive black votes to Clinton, who enjoys a healthy lead statewide but is expected to lose the urban center.

"It's nice that he did it," Washington said. "Some might say it's almost a profile in courage, but I don't think it's going to win a number of supporters to Hillary."

In fact, some analysts suggest that very few endorsements will be influential in this year's White House race. Nutter himself noted that Sen. Edward Kennedy's (D) backing of Obama didn't help the Illinois senator win Democratic delegates in Massachusetts. And few believe Nutter's choice of Clinton will hurt him in the long run, especially since she is expected to win the state.

"His opponents are going to use this against him," Ceisler said. "But I just don't see it sticking."