Analyst: Fractured Dems will close ranks

WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- Intra-party squabbles are hurting U.S. Democrats, but a political analyst says the party's long-term goal -- the November presidential election -- looks good.

Polls indicate Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois took hits recently in their campaigns to be the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee, The Christian Science Monitor reported.

Clinton lost ground after she "misspoke" about landing in Bosnia under sniper fire in 1996. Thirty-seven percent of the voters view her positively, a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll said.

Obama's positive rating has been hovering around 49 percent, but his image as a uniter suffered. A CBS poll shows 52 percent of voters said Obama would unite the country, a decline from 67 percent.

Democrats are concerned, says Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist.

"They'd love to have a nominee organizing for the fall," he said. "And they are concerned about the vicious things being said back and forth. I'll bet you a dollar to your dime that the Democrats come back together and unite behind their candidate."

Factors in the Democrats' favor include their fundraising advantage over Republicans and record-breaking turnouts for primaries and caucuses.