I am a big fan of boxing, and sometimes in boxing a young fighter needs a tough fight or even a loss to grow in the sport. They need to face adversity, they need to taste the canvas, and they need to get up, shake it off and fight again. From this they can--if they have the right aptitude, the right intelligence--learn what it takes to compete and win at a championship level.
Could this not be similar to the situation tonight? Could it be that this high level adversity--and I say high level because he has faced adversity in his life, we know--could this high level adversity be a net positive for Obama and his campaign?
Now, I'm sure you've all read Kos' post on the front page, so I will leave these details out.
But here is what Josh Marshall at TPM says:
So I think the big question is, can he fight back? Can he take this back to Hillary Clinton, demonstrate his ability to take punches and punch back? By this I don't mean that he's got to go ballistic on her or go after Bill's business deals or whatever else her vulnerabilities might be. Candidates fight in different ways and if they're good candidates in ways that play to their strengths and cohere with their broader message. But he's got to show he can take this back to Hillary and not get bloodied and battered when an opponent decides to lower the boom. That will obviously determine in a direct sense how he fares in the coming primaries and caucuses. And Obama's people are dead right when they say, he doesn't even have to do that well from here on out to end this with a substantial pledged delegate margin.
Whoever the Democratic nominee is come general election time, he (or she...) will have to face strong political adversity.
Simply, Obama needs to make this experience a positive. He and his campaign need to deal with negativity, with the momentum going against him.
That way, come November, he will be prepared to go 12 rounds with John McCain.
Those are my thoughts. What are yours?