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U.S. Rep. Coble remembers 40th president
By Samantha Young
Stephens Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., isn't shy about acknowledging who helped him win his first election to Congress in 1984 - President Ronald Reagan.

The president didn't shoot a commercial for Coble or stop by for a fund-raiser, but Reagan lent his name to Republicans in his own bid for re-election to the White House.

"When you have a person that popular at the head of the ticket there's a pouring down effect from the top," Coble said, remembering Reagan after his death this weekend.

In Coble's case, he narrowly ousted freshman Democrat Rep. Robin Britt by 2,662 votes.

A former state lawmaker and assistant U.S. attorney, Coble said he directly benefited from Reagan's popularity among the state's voters. Reagan redefined the Republican Party and garnered the support a significant number of conservative Democrats, a key constituency for Coble.

District voters who had voted for President Jimmy Carter in 1976 switched their support to Reagan and Republicans down the ticket in 1980 and 1984.

In his campaign, Coble painted Britt as an "extravagant liberal," and criticized him for voting against Reagan initiatives two-thirds of the time in 1983, according to Politics in America, a political reference book.

Once in Congress, Coble, who as a state legislator had prided himself as a fiscal conservative, sided with Reagan's efforts to boost defense spending despite the budget deficits that resulted.

"He restored a strong defense in this country that directly resulted in the collapse of Russia and the ultimate demise of the Cold War," Coble said of Reagan's legacy.

Coble plans to attend Reagan's funeral Friday at Washington National Cathedral.

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