SETTING THE STAGE

October 10, 1998
	North Carolina State University's Michael A Dimock, an assistant professor of Political Science, reports on the the race for North Carolina's Second Congressional seat. He sets the stage in this first of a series of weekly reports.

Online NewsHour Special Report: Election '98 Return to the North Carolina index. Oct. 4, 1998: Jeffrey Kaye reports on the North Carolina race     U.S. House of Representatives Rep. Bob Etheridge's Web Site at the House. The Raleigh News & Observer.	A tough fight for reelection.
	Even without Flytrap complications, first-term Democratic incumbent Bob Etheridge was looking at a challenging reelection campaign. Though over 71 percent of voters in the 2nd district are registered as Democrats, the district voted for both George Bush and Bob Dole in the last two presidential elections, and is widely perceived to be a Republican-leaning district which Etheridge won in 1996 only due to the public and private travails of then-incumbent David Funderburk. Moreover, redistricting is forcing Etheridge to introduce himself to new constituents in the city of Raleigh. Etheridge's opponent, State Senator Dan Page, comes into the race with political experience, and a solid reputation in the southern part of the district. However, he is a relative unknown in Wake county, where Raleigh is located, and counties to the north. As with most unknown challengers, Dan Page's dilemma has been attracting attention to his campaign. Page achieved this in mid-September by running one of the first attack ads in the nation that explicitly tried to link a Democratic incumbent to the Clinton scandal. Due to a lack of funding, the advertisement itself saw only a limited run, but Page received extensive free media coverage on local news stations, and even national news outlets (like the NewsHour), coverage which undoubtedly increased his name recognition within the district and brought his campaign to the attention of potential donors who might have overlooked this race. The advertisement's effectiveness in leading voters to change their views about Etheridge is unclear, but that was undoubtedly of far less strategic concern to the campaign than these latter considerations.