An Anonymous commenter asked this question last week:What effect do you guys think having Obama/Mccain at the top of the ticket will do to the local Congressional races? I just read the story on Politics Extra about Chabot's chances in the fall with Obama bringing out new voters in droves. Do you think the democrats out east who heavily support Clinton over Obama will stay home, or will the vote republican?Clearly, Barry Hussein O'Carter will bring out the drones in droves; but I don't think his appeal will be as broad as some may think. Obama isn't likely to appeal to much of the Purple Counties here in Ohio, for instance, as his values don't match up with theirs in most instances.
Steve Chabot, in OH-01, might be in some trouble as that is the only Purple County district that I see where the momentum shifts in Obama's favor; but there is no guarentee that Obama voters won't vote for Chabot anyway. Chabot has lived in this district forever and has worked very hard on their behalf. His fundraising prowess is exceeded only by the number of hours he's put in shaking hands and kissing babies. While the demographics of the district are changing, I think Chabot has at least one more cycle left before the numbers turn against him.
As for Democrats "out east" who support Commodore Decker's Planet Killer now... I think the quantity of those voters will dwindle with time, but I do think that there is a significant number of them who are likely to sit it out or vote McCain. Will that be enough? I'd like to think so, but I'm more confident that when the time comes those folks are going to return to form and vote for the guy with the "D" at the end of his name.
Mark? Sean? Any thoughts? Readers, have at it in the comments...
