May 04, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 27, 1429

WASHINGTON: Sen Barack Obama won the Democratic primaries in both Louisiana and Mississippi earlier this year, but he is now featured in television ads bought by Republicans trying to turn him into a liability for Democrats in two looming special elections in those states.

Democratic victories would be a serious setback for Republicans. But it also would go a long way to reassure nervous Democrats, particularly undecided convention super delegates, that Obama would not present a hardship to House or Senate candidates running in tough races.

Democratic losses would give Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton new ammunition to build her case for her presidential candidacy by questioning the sturdiness of Obama’s coattails.

“I think people want to know what chances we’re going to be having in November if Obama is the nominee,” said US Rep Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat who has endorsed Clinton.

Both races present Democrats with an unusual chance for an early capture of Republican seats.

Voters in Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, held by Republicans for 32 years, will choose between Democrat Don Cazayoux, who leads in the polls, and Republican Woody Jenkins. The seat had belonged to former Republican Rep Richard Baker, who resigned earlier this year to work with hedge funds.In Mississippi’s 1st District, in Republican hands since 1995, Democrat Travis Childers is competing with Republican Greg Davis to fill the seat held by Roger Wicker, who is now serving in the Senate as a replacement for former Sen Trent Lott. That election is on May 13.

Republicans clearly hope Obama is a Democratic albatross. The Republican Party and one of its conservative allies have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads portraying Obama as a liberal and tying Cazayoux and Childers to the Illinois senator.“When it comes to taxes both Travis Childers and Barack Obama think alike — they both want to raise them,” says an ad by Freedom’s Watch, an outside group financed by wealthy Republican contributors.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, the branch of the national party that assists its candidates, has linked Childers and Cazayoux to Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In Louisiana, the party’s ad says Obama and Pelosi represent “a radical agenda, very different from Louisiana’s values.”

“Is Obama right for Louisiana? Is Pelosi?” the spot asks.

National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Tom Cole, a Republican congressman from Oklahoma, this week said Republicans would rather run with Obama at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket than Clinton. That represents a change in attitude for Republicans, many of whom had argued earlier that Clinton would likely energise Republicans against her and thus help down ticket Republicans.

But now, some Republican strategists say, any connection between Democratic candidates, even conservative Democrats such as Cazayoux and Childers, and Obama will erode their support among blue-collar voters. And they say that since the ads began running, the Democrats’ leads have shrunk.

Obama “is by any definition very liberal, to the left of Hillary Clinton, in a centre-right country,” Cole said. “That is very, very helpful to us.”

Democratic Party officials and strategists, however, say the Obama links in the Mississippi and Louisiana races are having no effect.

“The fact that these two seats are competitive is news in itself,” said Rep Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Some Republicans are surprised that the party and the lobby group Freedom’s Watch chose to make Obama an issue in two congressional districts with sizable African-American populations. One-third of the population in the Louisiana district and one-quarter of the population in the Mississippi district is black.

“In surveys I have seen, African-Americans are more likely to be undecided than white voters,” said Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who has been following the Louisiana contest. “Consequently, linking Cazayoux to Obama could help him significantly with undecideds and make them break Cazayoux’s way.”

Democratic wins in both contests would not only boost Obama’s credentials, they could undermine Republican strategy. But Fabrizio said that, too, could be a mistake. He said he still believes Obama is greater liability for Democrats than Clinton, but that the two current special elections were not the contests to test whether Obama would drag down Democratic congressional candidates.

Obama has shown an ability to drive up African-American turnout in a way that would be of special benefit in some congressional districts and statewide races. Rep Gene Taylor, a Mississippi Democrat who has not aligned himself with either candidate, said Obama at the top of the ticket could cause an outpouring of African-American votes for Democratic Mississippi Senate candidate Ronnie Musgrove.

“What the big question mark is, and I guess we won’t know until November, is what’s the turnout for the guy who just can’t vote for the black man, just won’t do it, for whatever reason,” he said. “That’s the big unknown.”

The special elections might offer a clue.—AP