General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm told "If you ever want a balanced SCOTUS, set your values aside and shut up and vote for HRC." [View all]merrily
(45,251 posts)Obama and the primary did not damage McCain or Romney or Santorum or anyone else. It simply helped reveal the candidates to voters, who amply deserve, at the very least, to know the faults of people running for President, including as seen by people in the candidates' own party who are to the right and left of them. Primary debates mean more chances to see the candidates as they have been, as they react to challengers, and to form an opinion about how they are likely to be if nominated and if elected. Primaries also give Americans more chances to see a Party as a whole, the kinds of positions it takes, the kind of candidates it allows to rise to the top, like cream on milk or scum on stew.
McCain did not lose to Obama because the primary weakened McCain. McCain lost because he is McCain, because he acted like a fool when the economy crashed and because he picked an dumbass nutter with a big mouth and secessionist spouse, who prided herself on being a redneck, as his running mate. And because Obama did better.
Romney lost because his very own speech to fundraisers got recorded and made public and because he marveled at working conditions in China that has workers sleeping in triple bunk beds, abused daily and trying to commit suicide--and the solution of the employer is to put up nets to catch them after they try to kill themselves by jumping off the roof. And because Obama did better.
And the horse Romney rode in on lost too. (j/k about poor Rafalka.)