On Obama's Coattails, an Uninvited Rider

Smith was one of the first senators to endorse presumptive Republican nominee John McCain during the primary season, but, Reynolds said, "at the end of the day, although a lot of Republican strategists can say Oregon is in play, it would be a surprise if he wins it."

Remarkable as Smith's imagery is, Barrow's advertisement may be more telling. In May, Republicans tried to use the specter of Obama to sink another Southern Democrat, Travis Childers, who responded with an ad that said he had never sought Obama's endorsement and had never met him.

Childers won his northern Mississippi district by a wider-than-expected margin, in part because Democratic strategists cited the anti-Obama tactics to rally black voters. The same dynamic -- anti-Obama attacks followed by a Democratic victory -- played out last month in a special election for a House seat in the Baton Rouge area.

Barrow, who beat his Republican opponent in 2006 by 864 votes, might have been as skittish as Childers, but he decided that Obama's endorsement could only help him in an unanticipated primary fight against African American state senator Regina Thomas -- as well as in the general election. Just as Childers benefited from black voter turnout, Barrow, who is white, believes that Obama can rally an often-skeptical Southern black electorate to him.

For his part, Obama decided Barrow had a better chance of holding the seat -- whose district stretches from Savannah to Augusta -- than the more liberal Thomas. Democratic strategists said the primary contest could serve as a test of Obama's strength outside Atlanta, in a state that he intends to contest.

Obama's efforts on behalf of Barrow also jibe with his efforts to broaden the electoral map.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe laid out that plan yesterday, predicting that the campaign's "50-state strategy" will help Democrats down the ballot. Obama ads will soon be on televisions in traditional swing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Wisconsin, as well as in the longtime Republican strongholds of Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Alaska and Montana.

The campaign will dispatch workers to some states, such as Wyoming and Texas, not to win them but to help Democratic congressional candidates rally voter turnout.

Republicans scoffed at the strategy yesterday. Spain noted that at least half a dozen House Democrats, including some in districts where Obama lost badly to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) in the primaries, have refused to publicly endorse Obama. One of them, Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.) called Obama "the most liberal senator," although he said he will vote Democratic in the fall.

"Like so much about Barack Obama's campaign, his campaign manager's words don't match reality," said Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant.