Despite Wright Flap, Obama's GOP Backers Sticking With Him -- for Now

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Despite Wright Flap, Obama's GOP Backers Sticking With Him -- for Now
By Krissah Williams
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 3, 2008; A06


Sen. Barack Obama attends a rally in North Carolina, where Republicans and independents are expected to play a key role in Tuesday's Democratic primary. (Jae C. Hong/AP)

....Interviews this week with more than a dozen registered Republicans and independents who have lined up behind Obama suggest that many share (Barry) Szczesny's concerns but that most are sticking with the candidate for now. Only two Republicans who voted for Obama in a primary said they might dump him in November for Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the presumptive GOP nominee. The rest said they're behind the senator from Illinois, though some wondered how many more controversies their recent conversions could take.

From the start, Obama has courted Republicans and independents, seeing potential supporters who would epitomize his goal of moving beyond the nation's red-blue divide. They have also been an important part of Obama's cache as a transformational political figure -- without Republicans and independents, he would seem a whole lot more like any other Democrat. Holding on to their support has become critical to Obama's hopes of winning the Democratic nomination. In January and February, hundreds of thousands of Republicans preferred him to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), giving him an average advantage of 2 to 1 in eight early contests where exit polls showed strong turnout among Republicans. But in the Pennsylvania primary, which Obama lost by 10 percentage points last month, former Republicans split their votes evenly between Clinton and Obama.

Obama has highlighted his crossover appeal in Indiana, where Republicans and independents can vote in Tuesday's primary, by gaining endorsements from three of the state's prominent Republicans: John Clark, a top aide to Republican Gov. Mitchell E. Daniels Jr.; William D. Ruckelshaus, a Nixon administration lawyer; and Jim Benham, president of the Indiana chapter of the National Farmers Union. Still, there is evidence that the Wright controversy has hurt Obama. In a recent Fox News poll, nearly 6 in 10 Republicans said they were less likely to vote for the senator because of his relationship with Wright.

In a potential matchup against McCain, Obama continues to appeal to more moderate Republicans and independents than Clinton does. In a Washington Post-ABC News poll after the first Wright flare-up and other political troubles for Obama, about 14 percent of Republicans said they would vote for Obama in a general election and 7 percent opted for Clinton. Among independents, 48 percent said they would support Obama. Thirty-nine percent said they would back Clinton....

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As in Indiana, Republicans and independents will play a key role on Tuesday in North Carolina, where more than 30,000 voters have changed their registration to Democrat or independent since January, the State Board of Elections reports....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/02/AR2008050203923_pf.html