How far with Obama's coattails stretch?

Maddock

By JOSHUA SWANSON

With Barack Obama's meteoric rise and historic victory at the expense of the once inevitable Hillary Clinton, the jockeying to ride the coattails of Obama, or avoid the anvil of Bush, begins. Hoping to ride the coattails of the political rockstar and fundraising machine that is "Change We Can Believe In" are the Democratic candidates in the country's 11 gubernatorial contests. Of these contests, outside of Missouri, the race in North Dakota could prove one of the more telling indicators of how long Obama's coattails stretch. However, coattails eventually give way, fading into the red carpet. And, make no mistake, North Dakota remains a red carpet as far as its statewide politics. However, the winds are changing and a new political prairie fire may be sweeping our plains come fall.

How does this carryover into the campaign of State Senator Tim Mathern, the Dem-NPL candidate tasked with preventing Gov. John Hoeven from serving 12 years as the State's chief executive? While "Beat Benson With Burdick" may have worked in 1960, it would be incredibly foolish for Mathern to hinge the success of his campaign on linking Hoeven to Bush as many campaigns across the country will do this summer and fall. North Dakotans will associate the failures of the Bush administration with George W. Bush, not John Hoeven - although Hoeven does endorse many of Bush's policies.

Yet, the Hoeven campaign has to be disappointed that Obama is atop the Democratic ticket. Excitement is running at fever pitch for North Dakota Democrats in hopes Obama can become the first Democrat to win the state since Lyndon Johnson did in 1964. In February, nearly twice as many Democrats as Republicans turned out to cast their preference in the State's primary. A poll conducted in March by SurveyUSA showed Obama carrying North Dakota over John McCain 46 percent to 42 percent. While skeptics questioned the polls veracity, a month later an estimated crowd of 18,000-plus packed the Alerus Center to hear the new Democratic torchbearer.

These favorable conditions are great news for the North Dakota Dem-NPL and provide the seeds for the upset Mathern hopes to cultivate come harvest this fall. Mathern echoed this in a recent statement applauding Obama's hard fought victory. The bedrock of electoral success is a solid message and platform, which Mathern was quick to address, taking the time to focus on the Democratic principle of advocating for the working and middle-class. "We put the interests of working and middle class Americans first. Too many working people in North Dakota are struggling with rising costs of everything from gasoline to health care. Gov. Hoeven paints a rosy picture of the economy, and while it might be rosy for some, too many people are feeling increasingly squeezed by high costs and wages that can't keep up," Mathern asserted.

While he faces a tough test in unseating the incumbent, Mathern has the right message and can only benefit from the coattails of the most promising and inspiring presidential candidate in a generation. Whether those coattails will stretch to and through the Peace Garden State remains to be seen, but so far, it looks like there's plenty of thread in the fabric.