ShareThisWith North Carolina and Indiana taking center stage in the political slugfest between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the next critical primaries could be shaped by political dirty tricks from outside their campaigns.Already, the North Carolina Republican Party has bucked the wishes of the GOP's presumptive nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, by buying a TV ad that reminds voters -- for what seems like the 1,000th time -- that Obama's longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has made some controversial comments regarding America's role in slavery and the Sept. 11 attacks.The ad, which is the first known to use Wright as ammunition in the 2008 presidential race, isn't even an anti-Obama spot -- at least not on its face -- but presumably is aimed at two North Carolina Democratic candidates for governor. "Now, Bev Perdue and Richard Moore endorse Barack Obama," the ad states, in a reference to the state's lieutenant governor and state treasurer. "They should know better. He's just too extreme for North Carolina."Independent efforts to "swift boat" Obama already have sprung up. A group called ExposeObama.com began sending out e-mails this week such as, "President Barack Hussein Obama ... the scariest four words in the English language!"Ugly stuff, but it might be a permanent part of the picture with just two weeks to go until the May 6 primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.Following Clinton's 10-point win Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Obama's team trumpeted new superdelegates who have come to his side since that primary election.Steve Westly, the former California controller who is an Obama campaign co-chair and lead fundraiser in the state, predicted that a virtual parade of superdelegates will pledge for Obama and provide the boost that will put him over the top and decide the Democratic presidential nomination contest.Obama's campaign, meanwhile, has signaled that the Illinois senator now will star at small events in Indiana where blue-collar workers dominate, and his strategist, David Axelrod, was spotted wearing a shirt with a message that could appeal to primary-weary Democrats: "Stop the Drama, Vote Obama."On the Clinton side, San Francisco veteran Democratic strategist Averell "Ace" Smith is at work overseeing Clinton's effort in North Carolina, where the strong African American electorate -- one-third of all voters -- gives Obama a double-digit advantage in the polls.Smith -- who delivered Clinton's victories in Texas and California -- said this week that the campaign will remind voters in the Tar Heel State about the "North Carolina brush-off:" Obama's decision to pull out of a scheduled televised debate there on Sunday.San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a high-profile Clinton backer, is already packing his bags and preparing to campaign in Indiana, where Obama also has declined to debate and where polls suggest Clinton's chances are at least even in what is being called the "tiebreaker" primary.Newsom said in an interview that he is amazed by suggestions that Clinton didn't win big enough in Pennsylvania or that she should abandon her tough campaigning against Obama.The Pennsylvania primary -- in which Clinton was outspent by more than 2 to 1 -- "shows how tough Sen. Clinton is," said Newsom. He noted that the New York senator's efforts in the past six weeks have dramatized "the tenacity and spirit of the campaign ... and this is her greatest strength."Newsom argued that, despite complaints from Democrats and even media like the New York Times editorial board, which criticized Clinton's "low road," bare-knuckle tactics, the recent Democratic contests have been "a blessing for Barack.""It will toughen our candidates," he said, noting that what Obama faced in Pennsylvania from Clinton has been "80-mile-per-hour fastballs ... the gloves aren't even off. Wait until the GOP machine goes into effect in the general election."Democrats, too, should remember what happens when there is no such political tempering, Newsom cautioned: "We had two easy primaries in the last two (presidential) election cycles, and our candidates lost both times."E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci(at)sfchronicle.com.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Democratic contest could get down and dirty
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