I think partly because of the sort of racial narratives that are likely to attach within rightwing circles in the Democratic Party of an Obama defeat, as well as the subsequent role that he’d be likely to play in public life, that from the standpoint of progressive interests, we will ultimately be worse off with Obama as a defeated candidate than with Clinton as a defeated candidate. 

I have to think about this. But I just wanted to throw this out there for folks to ruminate on. Pay particular attention to the differences between Reed and Harris-Lacewell with regards to politics. More here