General Discussion

and should not have been treated as one.

She was damaged, but not by the primary.
There were the Russians, Comey, Facebook, Wikileaks, yes--there really was a vast right wing conspiracy, plus a poorly run campaign (for a second time). To blame it on Democrats having a democratic primary seems a bit misguided to me.

She ran a more negative campaign against Obama than any run against her. She went after Obama's Black minister and Bernie didn't even go after her emails. Hillary's campaign against Obama brought out the best in him, and made him a better candidate for the general.

We Dems have to get over being afraid of primaries--even primaries that last until a convention, if that's what it takes to make a solid choice. Some excellent people were pushed out of the last primary debates over the DNC fear of too much competition--narrowing the debate state before we got to know them, and we ended up with the 2 people who started with the most name recognition. Who knocks an experienced US Sentor off a presidential debate? Do we want the DNC to choose our nominees? Do we not trust democracy any more than the Republicans?

We need to know that our nominee can shine in a tough general election. A tough primary shows us who is up to it.