Expert: Obama at risk in electoral fight

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- The increasingly bitter electoral fight between presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain could ultimately hurt the Illinois senator, an expert says.

Harvard University professor of government Stephen Ansolabehere said with Obama and the Arizona senator exchanging increasingly hostile barbs with one another in their pursuit of the U.S. presidency, the intensifying battle could prove detrimental to the Democratic presidential candidate, The Boston Globe said Thursday.

"Given who the candidates are, I think it will probably hurt Obama more, mainly because a large part of his message is sort of rising above normal politics, changing politics," he said. "Whereas McCain's been through a couple of these campaigns before, and the message is a little less about that. It's more about experience."

Meanwhile, Institute for Civility in Government co-founder Cassandra Dahnke told the Globe media jabs like the ones between Obama and the Republican presidential candidate will likely not end until society openly opposes such "attack ads."

"Until the American population says, 'No, attack ads will not work' and votes that way, change is going to be slow," she told the newspaper.