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a NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript
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A QUESTION OF VALUES?

October 19, 1998 
North Carolina State University's Michael A Dimock, an assistant professor of Political Science, examines the possible impact of President Clinton's problems on the race for North Carolina's Second Congressional District.
   
NewsHour Links

Online NewsHour Special Report:
Election '98

Return to the North Carolina index.

Oct. 10, 1998:
North Carolina State professor Michale Dimock reports on this year's campaign landscape.

Oct. 4, 1998:
Jeffrey Kaye reports on the North Carolina race

 

 

NewsHour Links

U.S. House of Representatives

Rep. Bob Etheridge's Web Site at the House.

The Raleigh News & Observer.

 

Dan Page

Republican
Dan Page

Dan Page's attempt to link Etheridge to the Clinton scandal continues, and has since been copied by Republican challengers across the country. In last week's congressional vote on impeachment hearings, Etheridge sided with Republicans in authorizing an open- ended investigation, a move some see as a direct response to Page's attack ads. So far, the effectiveness of Page's advertisements remains unclear. A newly released poll shows Etheridge with a 55 percent to 38 percent edge over Page, with 6 percent undecided (WTVD poll of 500 likely voters, margin of error 4.5 percent).


A tough fight for reelection.

Interestingly enough, only two years ago Etheridge was the candidate attacking the values of a sitting incumbent. In 1996 the Etheridge campaign flooded the television and radio airwaves with an ad highlighting Republican incumbent David Funderburk's involvement in an automobile accident. Playing off of eyewitness accounts that Funderburk had in fact been driving, but switched seats with his wife before returning to the scene of the incident, Etheridge implied that Funderburk's values, and overall trustworthiness, were questionable.

Now, with the tables turned, Etheridge is in the position of defending his values and character. However, Page's ads have an inherent weakness that Etheridge has been taking advantage of. Instead of defending himself, Etheridge needs only to establish his independence from Clinton's shadow. By voting to proceed with the impeachment hearings, a vote which received a great deal of coverage in the local media, Etheridge has taken a lot of the punch out of Page's attack.

In short, Etheridge seems to be weathering the storm fairly well so far. By comparison, David Price, the Democratic incumbent in the neighboring 4th district, voted for the Democratic altermative on the impeachment vote and continues to face a barrage of advertisements from his opponent, Tom Roberg, asking him to "take a stand" and represent North Carolina's values. Next week, I will address how the latest round of court ordered redistricting has affected the race, and how a stalemate in the state legislature has served to benefit Democratic incumbents like Etheridge.


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