WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) -- Conservative Democratic congressional candidates said they shy away from Sen. Barack Obama's platform, while some candidates see him as a ticket boost.
Several U.S. states hold congressional contests as the Democratic presidential contest goes deeper and deeper into the year. The centrist appeal of Obama, D-Ill., is attractive to some candidates, a party splitter to others, and some simply stay out of fray completely, The Hill, a Washington newspaper, said Wednesday.
Some congressional candidates who have picked either Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., have personal ties to either candidate, while those remaining on the sidelines are seeing how an endorsement can boost their own candidacy.
Other candidates are scrambling to erase their past criticisms of Obama. Steve Novick is running for a Democratic seat in Oregon, a state widely expected to go to Obama on May 20.
Jack Weigler, Novick's campaign manager, told The Hill his statements that Obama was a "sell out" may have been "overly blunt."
But Republicans don't seem to be worried, the Hill says. When put up against likely GOP nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Republicans simply point to a National Journal article that puts Obama's voting record as the most liberal in the Senate.
