Adrian Fenty

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D)Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) played the jester in a joint appearance with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty on WTOP's 'Hands Across the Potomac,' a show that brings regional leaders together to talk about shared issues.

And while local issues took precedence this morning, host Mark Segraves and Gov. O'Malley could not ignore the elephant in the room: media buzz about Kaine's prospects as a the Democratic vice presidential candidate.

The front page of today's Washington Post listed the Virginia governor as at the top of Barack Obama's shortlist for potential picks. Politico has also reported that he "ranks very, very high on the short list," according to someone close to a senior Obama aide.

O'Malley was first to broach the subject with a joke. Kaine was talking about a Metro funding summit to reduce traffic congestion when his fellow governor chimed in, "We're confident that Vice President Kaine will be a terrific advocate for this at the federal level."

For the most part, Kaine was coy on how serious his talks with the Obama campaign are.

Gov. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia): NGA PhotoVirginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) has been added to the Maryland Democratic Party’s Victory ’08 Unity Fundraiser guest list.

“We’re very excited that Gov. Tim Kaine will be joining the fun at our Victory ’08 Unity Fundraiser on July 30th. This is exactly the kind of history-making energy and enthusiasm for change we’ve seen for many months in Maryland and across America,” said state Democartic Party Chair Michael Cryor in a statement.

Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty: Getty Images PhotoWashington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) has been added to the Maryland Democratic Party’s Victory ’08 Unity Fundraiser guest list.

Fenty is the second Democrat from outside of the state to be officially announced as an attendee. In early July, PolitickerMD.com reported that Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) would also be joining the state party for the July 30 event.

Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) pleaded for “urgent action” to address the national foreclosure crisis during testimony this morning before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington, D.C.

“In Maryland, we have an aggressive strategy to address the foreclosure crisis, but our ultimate success depends on a successful partnership with the federal government to help keep homeowners in their homes,” O’Malley said.

The governor spoke in support of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Housing Stabilization Retention Act of 2008, designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by enabling the FHA to insure and guarantee refinanced mortgages that have been significantly written down by mortgage holders and lenders.

On his schedule since last week, Gov. Martin O’Malley will testify before the House Financial Services committee on Capitol Hill tomorrow to discuss the foreclosure prevention bill he recently signed into law.