The awesome and ruthlessly efficient machine that is the Clinton organization put Obama to a serious test in Nevada and South Carolina. He needed it and he is now better prepared to go up against the bloodthirsty attack machine that is the modern GOP.
Here is Liberal Oasis on the subject:
Sen. Barack Obama lost Nevada after failing to fully respond to a myriad of baseless attacks from the Clinton campaign.
In South Carolina, he faced them down loudly and directly. And won the first blowout of the presidential race.
He may not have gotten back on offense as much as he could have.
But he was able to stick to his main campaign message about changing the political system while counterpunching. He played defense without getting knocked off stride and back on the heels.
Credit must also be given to Obama’s organization, which rejected the old Carolina establishment politics of winning support through “walking around money,” in favor of building a grassroots team from the bottom-up.
A general election campaign is going to need both qualities: energy from the grassroots, led by a candidate who can effectively respond to and triumph over nasty attacks.
After Nevada, Obama quickly learned the lesson he needed to learn.
Thank the Clintons for putting him through his paces. If Obama is to be the nominee, he needed to be battle-tested. Now he is, and a better candidate for it.