Obama vs. McCain and the down ballot impact with voters

Bob from Manhattan has come out with a statement thanking Obama for choosing Biden and in his opinion essentially handing McCain and Bob himself victory in NY-13, don't laugh;

Straniere yesterday issued a press release, thanking Obama for picking Biden as his vice presidential running mate.

I for one welcome an Obama vs. McCain race in the thirteenth and can't wait to see Bob lose horribly, that is if he even gets past his own primary he seems to over confidently think he has already won. Across the internet Politico interviewed Rep. Van Hollen, chairman of the DCCC, about the effects of having Obama and Biden atop the ticket this November;

“The majority of our candidates would be very happy to identify with Senator Obama,” the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told Politico. “If you look at the Obama economic agenda, it’s one that lines up very well with the agendas of our candidates.”

The Maryland congressman added that the presence of Joe Biden on the ticket as the vice presidential nominee will help down-ballot Democratic candidates in blue-collar parts of the country...

snip

But Van Hollen expressed some concerns that, despite the increased Democratic turnout expected on behalf of Obama, first-time voters may bypass the congressional races lower on the ballot.

“We need to make sure they don’t go in and vote Obama-Biden and hit the exits,” Van Hollen said. “That’s easier said than done, because there’s always some falloff on the ballot.”

The down ticket attrition rates have been horrible for Democrats in the past, as I have covered in my very first post. It is great to see that they are addressing this and believe the support to the Obama/Biden ticket will drive many new voters out and increase the likely votes for the next race down the ticket, this Congressional race. The impact in terms of new Democratic voters on the north shore alone should be significant.