The Democratic primary season that formally ended last night not only broke all records on cost, duration and levels of participation. It also shattered many tenets of conventional wisdom held at the start.

Of these, the expectation that Bill Clinton would be Hillary Clinton's greatest asset was perhaps the most axiomatic. "Bill Clinton is an extraordinary and unique asset for Hillary," Donna Brazile, who was campaign manager for Al Gore as the former vice-president ran for the White House in 2000, told the Financial Times at the start of these primaries. "Their challenge is to ensure that he remains the trimmings - she is the entrée. She is the main course."