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Not All Democrats Want To Ride Obama's Coattails
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| Parent(s) |
Race
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| Contributor | Scott³ |
| Last Edited | Scott³ Jul 14, 2008 11:23am |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Wall Street Journal |
| News Date | Monday, July 14, 2008 05:20:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Wall Street Journal.
"Barack Obama could have long coattails this fall. That doesn't mean that every Democrat is going to want to grab on to them.
The Illinois senator is likely to spur voter turnout among African-Americans and college students in some districts where Democrats hope to pick up House seats now held by Republicans or to fend off Republican challenges. But other Democrats facing tough re-election campaigns could see Sen. Obama's politics and his weakness among working-class whites as a liability.
"Some of these Democrats are trying to walk a fine line" between courting black voters and holding on to whites, said Nathan Gonzales of the Rothenberg Report, a nonpartisan political handicapper. Democratic candidates may embrace, ignore or run away from Sen. Obama, or perhaps some of each, he added.
Meanwhile, vulnerable Republicans, many of whom are in closely divided or Democratic-leaning districts, could see John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, as an asset because of his appeal to independents. If the Arizona senator runs a competitive presidential race, he "could provide air cover for our candidates" in what could otherwise be a difficult year for Republicans, said Rep. Tom Cole of OK, who heads the Republicans' House re-election campaign.
Operatives from both parties predict that there will be about 75 competitive House races in November. Among the most vulnerable are 26 freshman Democrats and one freshman Republican. But Republican retirements and several scandals have made dozens of other House districts fertile ground for Democratic candidates for the first time in years.
A few of those Democrats facing tough races already have signaled their ambivalence toward Sen. Obama. Florida's Tim Mahoney, who won his West Palm Beach seat in 2006 after the district's long-serving Republican congressman resigned amid a congressional-page scandal, is "supportive" of Sen. Obama, the congressman's spokeswoman said." |
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