News Story - Idaho State Journal

BOISE, Idaho (AP) _ Idaho's last uncommitted superdelegate gave his support to Sen. Barack Obama on Monday.

State Democratic Party Chairman R. Keith Roark said having Obama at the top of the party's ticket was more likely to help other Democratic candidates than having Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Roark said Obama was more likely to draw independent and younger voters, which should benefit other candidates for a party that's been overwhelmed by Idaho's Republican majority for nearly two decades.

Some attribute the slide of the state's Democrats since 1992 - there was parity in the state Senate just one year earlier - at least in part to Idaho's animosity toward former President Bill Clinton.

"The Clinton brand in the state of Idaho is not good for Democrats," Roark said, adding about Obama, "There's no question in my mind, when you get this enthusiastic army of young volunteers knocking on doors and making last-minute phone calls, that's going to have a very beneficial effect on the downticket."

Obama has 1,871.5 delegates, including endorsements from party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton has 1,697, according to the latest tally by The Associated Press. That leaves Obama just 153.5 delegates short of the number needed to win the nomination at the party's national convention this August in Denver.

In addition to Roark, Idaho's other three superdelegates also favor Obama. In the past week, Obama has picked up 26 superdelegates across the country, and a Clinton backer in Idaho predicted more superdelegates from other states will soon follow Roark.

"That seems to be the strategy," said John Greenfield, former chairman of the Idaho Democratic Party and a Clinton campaign spokesman for Idaho. "You're going to see more 'Keith Roarks' in the next few days."

Obama, D-Illinois, attracted more than 14,000 people in early February to a rally in Boise before winning 80 percent support in the state's "Super Tuesday" caucus. He has pledged to help out the state party before the general election, Roark said. Clinton, by contrast, would be unlikely to devote any attention to smaller states like Idaho that generally vote GOP, he said.

Roark's political calculation to back Obama is rooted in Idaho Democrats' bitter experiences in 1992, 1994 and 1996 when they lost significant ground in the state Legislature while Bill Clinton was in office.

Despite recent Democratic gains in urban Boise, Republicans outnumber the minority 51-19 in the state House and 28-7 in the Senate, while holding all statewide elected positions, including governor, and all four U.S. House and Senate seats.

Bill Clinton "had negative coattails in Idaho," said Jim Weatherby, a professor emeritus of political science at Boise State University. "I'm not surprised Democrats are rallying around Obama, particularly when Hillary basically ignored the state."

Bill Clinton didn't help Hillary Clinton's popularity among Idaho's party faithful last week when he said there wasn't a Democrat within 200 miles of the middle of the state, Weatherby said.

Sid Smith, executive director of the Idaho Republican Party, called Obama a liberal and referenced controversial sermons and statements by Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as a sign the candidate would be ineffective here.

"I don't think Obama will prove to be much help for Idaho Democrats," Smith said. "The more Idahoans learn about Barack Obama and his proposals, the less they're going to like him."

Roark said he's concerned about how Clinton conducts herself in the race. He doesn't want her to damage Obama's general election chances. But he stopped short of calling for Clinton to exit the race.

"I don't think it's my place - I don't think it's anybody's place - to tell her when she should or should not get out of the race," he said.

This document was originally published online on Tuesday, May 13, 2008

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