On a More Serious Note...

A story in today's New York Times posed the question of whether the dragging out of the Democratic primary is hurting the Democrats. The story's premise is that Hillary's attacks on Obama, particularly the racially-motivated ones, are taking a toll on his electability. After all, results of a Pennsylvania exit poll show that 16 "percent of white voters said race mattered in deciding who they voted for, and just 54 percent of those voters said they would support Mr. Obama in a general election; 27 percent of them said they would vote for Mr. McCain if Mr. Obama was the Democratic nominee, and 16 percent said they would not vote at all." (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/us/politics/23assess.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin.)

I beg to differ. Obama's electability was always in question, regardless of Hillary's attacks. And if anything, at this point, I've forgotten that McCain is even a candidate, as there is absolutely no attention given to him. Meanwhile, this looong Democratic primary is great press for both Democratic candidates. It seems to me, that the longer the focus is on them, the more electable and presidential-like they become, regardless of which one of them is ultimately chosen to battle against McCain -- the unknown candidate.

Furthermore, the airing out of Obama's dirty laundry now, so far ahead of the November election, shields him from identical attacks down the road. Race will continue to be a factor if Obama becomes the Democratic candidate, but Obama will have months to shape himself into the black candidate that doesn't scare white people, and that is an advantage for Obama.