bob carey was appointed director of the federal voting assistance program in july of 2009. where's the rest of your bio? prior to that, he served as executive director of the national defense committee as a member of the board of directors of the overseas vote foundation. after graduating from the university of pennsylvania, he was commissioned in the navy, served on destroyers, carriers and was an a 6 e bombardier navigator through two deployments including 37 combat missions during desert storm. left active duty in '95 to serve on the staff of two united states senators, served as senior policy adviser to the secretary of energy and since 9/11 have been recalled to active duty four times. and bob, i want to thank you on behalf of all the americans for your service. to our country. thank you very much. >> my honor. >> tom tarantino. he's the senior legislative associate for iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. he manages the legislative team and is responsible for executing their goals working with governments, congress, other decision making bodies and veterans organ

mitt romney got a coveted endorsement today from virginia's governor bob mcdonald. julie carey is here to tell us why that endorsement could end up benefiting both men. >> reporter: as head of the republican governors association bob mcdonald's position had been that he would remain neutral at least early on. but with the south carolina primary just a day away and romney's campaign struggling, mcdonald decided to step off the sidelines and give romney an important boost. mitt romney and bob mcdonald together in fairfax county back in october when romney came to virginia to help get out the vote in the general assembly elections. now it's mcdonald coming to romney's aid. after a rough debate performance last night and with paul's tightening in south carolina, romney started this day with the announcement that mcdonald is backing him. mcdonald told cnbc about his decision explaining he'd always said governor or former governor should be the gop nominee. >> that's why it's time now for me to get involved. it's a southern primary. i'm a southern governor. i thought i could help the

. >>> mitt romney picked up an important endorsement today from virginia governor bob mcdonald. julie carey joins us with a look at what convinced mcdonald to make a move now. >> all along governor mcdonald said he believes a governor or former governor should be the party nominee but with both rick perry and jon huntsman leaving the race this week mcdonald was free to make his choice, mitt romney. romney was in need of a little help. governor bob mcdonald's endorsement gives former massachusetts governor mitt romney's campaign a boost when it's most needed. it's been a rough week for romney. pressure to release his taxes took a toll. then came a rough debate performance. mcdonald decided today was the day to step off the sidelines and make an endorsement. he explained the timing on cnbc. >> that's why it's time now for me to get involved. it's a southern primary. i'm a southern governor. i thought i could help the governor by coming out today. >> reporter: mcdonald's endorsement also comes a day after texas governor rick perry dropped out of the contest. mcdonald is also close with perry a

carey, news4. >>> governor bob mcdonnell wraps up his opening day with the state of the commonwealth address thisning. >>> alexandria's vice mayor and former division party chair is taking a break from politics. kerry donnelly announced he would not seek re-election to the city council. he needs to put his health first and get his high blood pressure under control. he has spent 18 years on the alexandria council. >>> d.c. public school officials have up veiled new online school cards for all 119 schools. chancellor kai henderson cis the goal is to provide a more holistic view of what he is a happening inside the school building, good and bad. the information about student performance, including test scores, student growth, and how parents and children feel about the safety of their school. there is also information on how well each school communicates with its surrounding communities. you will find a link to the data on our website, nbcwashington.com. just search scorecards. >>> a 12-year-old girl in northern california catches a thief by mistake. >>> began >>> welcome back, i'm meteorologist kam