You wanna know why Obama won a landslide victory in his Senate race?
Again, no, because that wasn't the question.
There are just too many ifs and buts in your proposition. Braun might have taken a chunk of the black vote.
But who can tell me that she wouldn't have also taken a big number of white female voters from the other candidates, as the only viable woman contender?
...ok...isn't the just proving my point?
She takes a chunk of the black vote plus the female vote. She's looking nearly unstoppable from then on out. Obama isn't making up the difference.
But we need to get realistic for a minute. Moseley Braun was far better known than Hynes and Hull. Obama beating out Hull wasn't really because Obama was so great. Hull was in the middle of a nasty sex scandal/divorce. Moseley Braun had institutional
and black support. Obama wouldn't have had the latter wrapped up if she ran which probably would have cost him the race.
Again, the deeply flawed retard still enjoyed considerable support - 47% in 1998 even with the scandals fresh in the memory of the voters.
You also need to realize that with a heavyhitter like Moseley Braun in the race, Obama might not have even run. Sure, he was an underdog about Hynes and Hull when he decided to run but Moseley Braun is a whole different kind of beast to take on. I think there's a good chance that taking on a fellow black politician in a primary might have reminded Obama of his primary against Bobby Rush. I think he wanted to avoid another situation like that.