Recasting Clinton vs. Obama as a Teachable Moment for the Young Candidate

The New York Times published a great article yesterday that covered the many ways that Senator Obama may have gained — rather than lost, as some pundits contend — strength as a candidate from his protracted battle with Senator Clinton:

But there is a competing view that says that Mrs. Clinton, rather than being a spoiler, has in fact been an unwitting mentor to Mr. Obama, a teaching adversary who made him better. Could competing against Mrs. Clinton have improved Mr. Obama as a candidate in the same way that competing against Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s made Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan champions in the 1990s?

The article then goes on to contend that erstwhile Democratic contenders for the presidency Michael Dukakis and John Kerry were both harmed by easy victories in the primaries. Neither candidate had a strong opponent like Clinton, whose relentlessness forced Obama to define himself thoroughly for the electorate. This left the door open for “their respective George Bushes” to define them instead.

This wouldn’t be the first time that such a battering has lent Obama strength rather than bloodying him beyond recognition. In another excellent Sunday article, Times reporters Jo Becker and Christopher Drew detailed Obama’s humbling first attempt at running for Congress against incumbent Bobby Rush:

Brimming with confidence, he equated Mr. Rush with “a politics that is rooted in the past” and cast himself as someone who could reach beyond the racial divide to get things done. But it quickly became clear that while he had solidified his support among Hyde Park’s denizens, he had not built enough bridges to the surrounding black communities.

That failure was apparent on the summer day in 1999 when he walked through the South Side during the Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic. Other politicians rode on colorful floats, trailed by throngs. But Mr. Obama was on foot as he made his way through the cheering paradegoers who had shown up to celebrate black pride.

“People were asking, who is he?” said Mr. Kindle, who served as one of his emissaries to the black community. “You could see how humbling it was in his face.”

The campaign, as Mr. Mikva put it, was “a disaster from beginning to end.” Yet in ultimately losing, Mr. Obama learned that he needed to expand his base to be able to bounce back onto a larger stage, according to Mr. Mikva and others. “The beauty of Obama,” Mr. Kindle said, “is that he was willing to be taken to the woodshed” and “allow himself to grow.”

Whether the results of the Clinton drama will pan out to victory or defeat in November is anyone’s guess. But he has been toughened and vetted. His biggest scandal, Jeremiah Wright, has been laid largely to rest. It’s clear to anyone who has been paying attention that Senator Obama is a far stronger candidate now than he was just a few months ago.

I’d like to believe that was part of the motivation behind Senator Clinton’s vicious attacks on him, but I think I’ve seen enough of the Clintons to know better.