AP Analysis: Clinton support helps Obama in Ark.

By ANDREW DeMILLO

Published August 30, 2008 at 11 p.m.
Updated August 31, 2008 at 7:23 a.m.

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LITTLE ROCK (AP) _ Barack Obama received the seal of approval from two of Arkansas' most beloved political figures at last week's Democratic National Convention, a move that delegates from the state said was needed to unify their party.

The full-throated backing Obama received from Bill and Hillary Clinton went a long way toward swaying party insiders in the state who were lukewarm about the Illinois senator and still stinging from Hillary Clinton's defeat in the primaries.

But he still faces challenges in trying to turn their backing into votes in a state where Republicans are confident John McCain has a lock on an electorate that's gone Republican in the past two presidential races.

The biggest challenge — introducing Obama to a state that overwhelmingly backed his chief rival — will be the first task for party leaders as they return to the state this week.

"Barack Obama is not known in Arkansas," Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, acknowledged in an interview after returning from his party's convention in Denver.

"A lot of people still don't know about him," Beebe said. "Politics being the way it is, you either define yourself or somebody else is going to define you, and sometimes both things happen."

Democratic leaders in the state say they're going to avoid letting Republicans define Obama — which they've already started to do, saying he's too liberal for Arkansas' voters. But with a state director for Obama on the ground and plans for a state headquarters, they'll have some help.

They'll have to avoid a repeat of 2004, when Arkansas' delegates left the convention convinced that they could sell the party's nominee, John Kerry, as a moderate to conservative Democrats around the state. That strategy failed, but Democrats like Rep. Mike Ross say they have a better product to sell this time around.

Ross said Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, was a good candidate who just couldn't connect with voters the same way Obama could. Ross said Obama doesn't have the problem, comparing him to the state's favorite political son.

"I've only seen two politicians in my lifetime connect with the people in a way that can move voters and can allow voters know in no uncertain terms that here's a candidate that really cares about me and what I'm going through," Ross said. "And those candidates are Bill Clinton and Barack Obama."

Beebe said that the support Obama received from both Clintons will go a long way toward erasing the lukewarm reception Obama received from Hillary Clinton's die-hard supporters in the state.

"The loyalty to Hillary is not one of the options, unless you express that loyalty by not voting, which doesn't seem to be doing what she would want you to do," Beebe said. "I'm sure there will be some who just don't vote, and there are some who will vote for McCain, but I think the majority of hard-core Clinton supporters will ultimately respond to her request and support the nominee."

Ross and other delegates to the convention said that bringing Obama to the state to campaign — maybe even with Bill Clinton at his side — will be key to helping rally support in the state. And it would underscore the argument that Ross used in touting Hillary Clinton during her primary campaign against Obama, that it's important to have a president who knows where places like Eudora and Booneville and De Queen are located.

At this point, Democrats can only be sure that Obama knows the location of Little Rock — the site of his last visit two years ago to tout Beebe's campaign for governor. But they say he can draw another rock-star type reception and are trying to convince Obama that Arkansas can be a competitive state.

With Democrats firmly in control of all statewide offices, the Legislature and all but one of the congressional seats, Democrats argue that Arkansas is a Southern state Obama can't afford to ignore.

"I just think if he comes here and spends some time here in Arkansas, people will have a good impression of him," Sen. Mark Pryor said. "I think right now it is competitive, but it just needs a little tending to by the Obama campaign."

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DeMillo covers Arkansas government and politics for The Associated Press

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