The White House said Wednesday that the Democratic Party would benefit from a longer-than-expected presidential primary, just hours after Hillary Clinton’s surprise loss to Sen. Bernie Sanders in Michigan.
The important takeaway from Sanders’ victory in Michigan, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, is for “us to acknowledge here is that there’s a spirited debate on the Democratic side, and I think that’s really good for the party.”
“I think we saw two candidates on the Democratic side yesterday who have a demonstrated ability to energize and inspire passionate Democratic voters,” he added in remarks to reporters during his daily briefing.
Earnest also recalled similar intra-party concerns eight years ago about the hard-fought Democratic primary between then-Sen. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Democrats, he said, were worried back then about the impact a protracted primary would have on the Democratic nominee’s ability to compete in the general election. But the longer early contest actually helped prepare Obama and build the ground game to beat the GOP nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in states like Indiana where Democrats hadn’t traditionally competed.
“Those who are concerned that the Democratic contest in 2016 looks like it’s going to last longer than expected, that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he said.
