The American Spectator

Print Email

Text Size

The Spectacle Blog

There was always a debate over whether the protracted Democratic nomination battle was a good or bad thing for the party, and watching the early stages of the general election, its looking like it may have been helpful for Obama. Here are some of the reasons why:

1) It forced Obama to organize in all 50 states, and add more names to his donor base.

2) It may have benefitted him to have a lot of damaging stuff come during the period when he essentially had the nomination wrapped up, so by the time the general election rolls around it won't be as fresh. For instance, if the Jeremiah Wright controversy had happened in September or October, it could have been a bombshell. But now it'll come across as old news, and he had the chance to leave the Church. Remember that Clinton dealt with the Gennifer Flowers scandal during the primaries.

3) It allowed Obama to identify his problems with white working class voters, so he could tailor his message in the general. (See his first ad, where he wears an American flag lapel pin and highlights his rural white family.)

4) The early indications are that all of the talk of Democratic Party disunity was overstated.

Time will tell whether all of this holds true when we look back at the election when it's all over.