Will Interparty Battles Weaken Democrats in Election 2008?

Filed Under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Election 2008, Hillary Clinton

Will battles between various factions within the Democratic party hurt their candidates’ chances for success in Election 2008 or will the fire of battle harden up the eventual candidate so that he or she will be able to withstand the heat of the general election contest?

From the New York Times’ Adam Nagourney:

The exchanges created apprehension among many of their supporters who viewed this moment — if perhaps inevitable, given the nature of the contest — as divisive for Democrats. At the same time, it offered a portrait of a party struggling through entirely unfamiliar terrain that has been brought into relief by Mr. Obama’s victory in Iowa and Mrs. Clinton’s in New Hampshire. …

Mr. Obama spoke in general terms Sunday about the attacks on his candidacy on a day when Mrs. Clinton specifically challenged his record on opposing the Iraq war.

“I think they have decided to run a relentlessly negative campaign, and I don’t think anybody who’s watching would deny that,” he said. “I gather that she’s determined that instead of trying to sell herself on why she would be the best president, she’s trying to convince folks that I wouldn’t be a good one.”

Aides to both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama expressed squeamishness at the direction the conversation was heading. And publicly, the campaigns spent much of the day shadow-boxing on an issue that advisers to both of them described as volatile.

I predict that some of the ammunition that has been fired — the politics of personal destruction — by the Democrats will come back to play in the general election, but because negative information has been previously released, candidates will be inoculated by virtue of the “age” of the negatives. The candidate can respond that “that’s old news” if a primary attack is revived during the general election.

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