Joe Wilson Election: Chances Damaged By Outburst
BEN EVANS and MEG KINNARD | 09/20/09 10:14 AM | 
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Rep. Joe Wilson may have shouted his way into the toughest election fight of his life.
Just ask former Sen. George Allen of Virginia, a conservative darling who suffered a surprise defeat in 2006 after calling an Indian-American campaign worker “macaca” – an ethnic slur in some countries. Or Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, who was tossed out of office the same year after striking a police officer who tried to make her show identification before entering the Capitol complex.
Voters often frown on rude conduct, and Democrats would like nothing more to have Wilson’s scalp in 2010 – not just to win another seat, but to hold up the victory as evidence that even the conservative South rejects the town-hall style vitriol that President Barack Obama is facing.
Of course, a decisive Wilson victory could also show the opposite: that voters in this South Carolina district are angry over Obama’s policies and support Wilson’s message, if not his style.
What’s clear is that the race will be one of the most closely watched of the midterm cycle, with money now gushing in from all over the country. The normally low-key Wilson will be in the spotlight like never before.
“It’s actually boosted Joe’s popularity among folks who agree with him,” said Danielle Vinson, a political scientist at Furman University. But Vinson said it could cause problems for Wilson with voters who are transplants to South Carolina.
“This particularly will stick in their minds because they’re still talking to friends and family who live elsewhere, and for them, this has been an embarrassment,” she said.
About a quarter of Wilson’s constituents are African-Americans, a voting bloc that has overwhelmingly supported Obama and is not likely to approve of his insult.
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