Republicans glory in extended Democratic battle

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - As the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. president wears on, Republican Jack Schmidt is thinking the same thing many conservatives are -- this is good for Republicans.

"They are beating themselves up to McCain's advantage," said Schmidt, 79, a retired broker, referring to presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain. "He's got some baggage too, but no one is paying attention to that."

While McCain is not getting the media attention Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are as they battle to be their party's White House nominee in November, McCain's supporters are cheering the sometimes nasty Democratic battle.

"The longer they drag it out, the better for our candidate. The longer they beat each other up the less they're beating up our candidate. It's totally to our advantage and it's great," said Chelsea Chapman, an oil and gas accountant and the president of the Houston young Republicans.

The fight between Illinois Sen. Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, and New York Sen. Clinton, who would be the first woman in that job, has drawn huge media attention as they battle through the final primaries.

For McCain, who beat back his serious competition weeks ago, the last state nominating contests have become a formality often unnoticed by voters as he sails toward his nomination in September.

TIPPING POINT

The dramatic contest between Clinton and Obama was initially unequivocally good for Democrats and bad for Republicans, said Andrew Taylor, political science professor at North Carolina State University.

Clinton and Obama raised far more money than did Republican candidates, who were all white men. Voter registration and turnout far exceeded Republican efforts as well as excitement built for a historic Democratic nominee.

But Taylor said once McCain became the Republican choice, the benefit to Democrats of the long battle began to flatline. The delayed focus on McCain gave Republicans time to reunite after their own shorter but still divisive primary fight.

"McCain was trying to build bridges within the party, raise money, get the organization into gear," said Taylor. Meanwhile, Democrats started turning on each other.

But even that is not all good news for Republicans.

"After a while, you want to start gaining some attention. (McCain) has been around the country on this biographical type tour, and he just hasn't been able to get the kind of attention they may have wanted," Taylor said.

Republicans are also bracing for a surge in support for the youthful Obama, 46, if as expected he becomes the nominee, while McCain, 71, will struggle to appear as compelling.

"Mr. McCain is realistic enough to know he will fall behind Mr. Obama once the Democratic nomination is settled. He's steeled himself and his team for that moment," Karl Rove, the former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, said last week in a Wall Street Journal column.

McCain appears antsy to start the battle.

"Oh, I'm ready. I'm ready to take to the American people the challenges of the issues we face, whether it be raising the taxes, as Senator Obama wants to do ... or have the government take decisions on health care of the families, or certainly issues such as national security," McCain told reporters in Houston last week.

Cincinnati's Schmidt isn't so sure McCain is ready for the media attention on some of his more controversial policies, including his support for the surge in troops for the Iraq war, which Schmidt opposes. He's hoping McCain chooses a good vice presidential running mate to boost his appeal.

But McCain supporter Laura Cernock said McCain has emerged relatively unscathed from a battle that is still bruising his Democratic rivals -- which bodes well for November.

"It makes him look in a way better," said Cernock, a teacher. "He does look more presidential, because he's not involved in the fight."

(Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor in Houston; editing by David Wiessler)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at http:/blogs.reuters.com/trail08/ )