Obama closes in, but longer battle allows more scrutiny
Barack Obama’s big win in North Carolina and the cliffhanger in Indiana will intensify pressure on Hillary Clinton to end her race for the Democratic presidential nomination. That would no doubt cheer Democratic insiders who fear that a continuing contest would further damage the nominee and expose deep fissures in the party over race, class and age.
But whether it would be the best outcome from a non-partisan perspective is far less certain. An ongoing battle might even turn out to benefit the Democrats.
Of the many reasons for this, the foremost is that the process would allow more time for the belated vetting of Obama, one of the youngest and least experienced presidential candidates of the modern era.
Tuesday’s outcome reinforces Obama’s position as the prohibitive favorite. He has, however, never run for national office or even faced a tough electoral challenge.
The uproar over his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has just begun to test him. How he concludes it will test his ability to respond to accusations (grounded and otherwise) and to pressure more generally — an essential test of any prospective president.
Six more Democratic contests through June 3 would also force Obama to prove he can win more white, working-class votes and dispel the notion that he’s too intellectually aloof.
Even Democratic voters recognize the value in this severe vetting process. According to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken last week, fully 60% of Democrats saw no reason why the race should not continue. They may recognize that the worst outcome for their party would be to have their candidate’s weaknesses exposed only in the general election.
Clinton vowed Tuesday night to press on. But the results will make it even harder for undecided superdelegates to declare for her. Despite being far more thoroughly vetted than her opponent, she trails by every measure.
The downside of the lengthy campaign, of course, has been the ongoing pander-fest as Clinton and Obama cooked up giveaways in hopes of eating into each other’s natural constituencies. The longer the race goes on, the more they are likely to box themselves into regrettable, unaffordable positions that one might have to deal with as president.
So far, however, the positives of the long race have outweighed the negatives. Interest in the race has been huge. Turnout Tuesday was again in record territory, and voting has been up across the board, most notably among young voters, whose interest historically has been dismal. Americans have gotten to see the candidates, and the candidates have gotten to see America.
Republican John McCain might be enjoying the Democratic brawl from the sidelines, but sooner or later, he’ll be back in the harsh spotlight himself.