Clintons Pushing Hillary/Barack Ticket

Reuters:

Hillary and Bill Clinton are again teaming up on Barack Obama -- this time saying the first-term U.S. lawmaker, whom they have derided as inexperienced, would be a strong running mate on a Democratic presidential ticket headed by the former first lady.

In talking up a joint ticket, the Clintons may be seeking the upper hand, attempting to put her in consideration for the top of the ticket when she so far has failed to win the votes necessary to assure that she would face Republican presidential candidate John McCain in the November election.

The maneuver may also be aimed at countering an image in voters' minds of Obama as presidential material and at helping restore an aura of inevitability as the party's nominee that Clinton had early in the campaign but lost.

"The Clintons are in a difficult position," said Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University in Iowa, who has tracked the presidential race.

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Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[Earl]

Why would she want to team up with an inexperienced young man who can't answer the hotphone at 3 a.m.?

[HumeSkeptic]

To answer the "hotphone"?

[Kalima]

Isn't that something! Answer the hotphone indeed! Which country and which century?
Go Pakistan!

[Kalima]

Haven't seen you before. Why come here with your silly one liners and expect anything. At least the
phone call to Obama at 3 am would be to solve a crisis in the world and not a crisis concerning
Bill's zipper problems.

[mcfried]

No! No! No! I'm so sick of the Clintons. This is beyond stupid. Hillary you are losing, you don't get to suggest the winning candidate as VP. I don't want Obama to get any experience from you because all it amounts to is experience in making the wrong decision, corruption and deceit. This is getting so bad that I'm starting to agree with Andrew Sullivan.

[nohat]

And you can. Even awful people can write the truth.

[marika]

The Clinton-Obama ticket is just a gimmick that the Clintons are peddling because Hillary cannot win on her own. What is that called - two for the price of one?

I cannot imagine anyone other than Jeb Bush wanting to be on a ticket with that woman. She is not even a Republican-lite anymore and is now behaving like an opportunistic hustler.

[MutualDisdain]

Hillary Clinton is not only risking her chances at the nomination, Obama's chances in the general election, and the stability of the party; Now she is risking the legacy of her husband. Every day we are reminded of the past and the countless scandals that surrounded her husband's presidency. The longer she stays in the election, the more Bill Clinton is scrutinized and diminished.

Our only hope is that the hubris of Bill Clinton out weighs the avarice of his wife. Perhaps he will be the one to stop the farce that is her campaign out of the desire to preserve his legacy.

The fate of the Democratic party rests on which Clinton has the bigger ego...

[wsblake]

It may work only if Obama gets the top spot. Clinton cannot beat McCain, but with the huge turnout of young people that Obama will bring, he can. It is imperative that Obama is given that chance. Our nation cannot stand another Rethug like McCain.

[HumeSkeptic]

WIth Hillary on the ticket, Obama would have a hard time convincing me that his call for "change" is genuine.

[nohat]

Hume is right. Obama could never accept the Veep and maintain his integrity. Keep his message. It isn't possible.

[inthecolour]

I just watched a few of those early morning shows and they're all asking the same question: why are the clintons doing this when 1) obama is the front-runner and 2) the clintons have said repeatedly that he "hasn't crossed the commander in chief threshold"

These guys are making themselves look like idiots.

[nohat]

Thank God. I didn't think the press would ever criticize the Clintons again after Hillary, with guile even her enemies had to admire, lit into Tim Hussert in that debate. Live, with millions watching.
That was a shot across the bow and directed at every news outlet and every journalist in the land.
She wanted to cow the press, and she did. Whining about always being asked the first question is something she could easily have done in private before the debate got underway. No, she wanted to embarrass the press, wanted the whole world to know about their bias.
But if they are now asking hard questions about this ever-so-arrogant offer to Obama, that's good; it means the spell is starting to wear off. (She will cast another one, but even if the press gets just a week or so of free speech, that's something.­)
Go press, go!

[lifeinfullcolor]

Funny how it changes when it comes down to two, poor Edwards, Kucinich, Richardson, Biden, Gravel and Dodd would have loved to get the first question. I'm sure she would have complained about being left out, passed over.

[vitasackvillewesttexas]

ludicrous. laughable. i hope this seriously backfires on them. how cynical indeed. what a ploy. how white of them to offer him the back seat. WHAT BULLSHIT. call all your tv stations, radio stations, blog big - this is total bullshit.

[Wigglesworth]

After reading as many comments on this thread as I could follow, a couple of things have become clear to me.

One is that many of you have invested so much hope in Barack Obama that you are in danger of placing him on a pedestal from which he will inevitably fall. He's an exceptional human being...bu­t that's just what he is, a human being. I don't think he is promoting himself as the new political messiah, but our need is so great for change, that we are idealizing this man to a dangerous degree. In a sense, by doing this, we set him up for failure.

Another thing I've realized is that the level of demonization surrounding Hillary Clinton is waaaay over the top. Satan incarnate? Vile? Monster? Personification of Evil.... This sounds like you guys are channelling Pat Robertson. Mrs. Clinton and her entourage are calculating, opportunistic and tough players. That's what you are up against--not Beelzebub and the Minions of Hell. And if you are serious about chasing know-nothing conservative Republicans out of Washington, DC, then you just might have to accept Mrs. Clinton on the ticket. And you just might have to accept Bill Clinton's statement that a Clinton/Obama ticket would be unbeatable. (By the way, I really dislike Bill Clinton, and am not a big fan of hers.)

[kingfishstew]

1) I think Clinton supporters tend over emphasize the fanatacism of Barack Obama supporters. I'm not sure if this intentional hyperbolae or not, but the constant comparison of us to the Jews of the 1st A.D. is ...to say the least...mo­re than a bit inaccurate.

2) Everything is relative. Most of us Barack Obama supporters have very low opinions of Clinton, but we also have an even lower opinion of the Green River Killer. If the Green River Killer was running against Hillary for President, I'm sure we'd rally around her instead. Unfortunately for Clinton, he's not.

3) As much as people have become disatisfied with Bush, many in the Clinton camp believe this disastisfaction is completely personal. Bush bad, get rid of Bush everything good. Unfortunately for her, and probably one of the cause of division between the Clinton camp and the Obama Camp, is that many Obama supporters think the horrors of the past 8 years weren't all simply Bush's fault, but the fault of our institutions and the type of leadership that has become acceptable in Washington.

Clinton supporters are content with changin the name of warden of the prison camp. Obama supporters want to close the damn camp.

[Wigglesworth]

How much CHANGE do you think can be achieved in a 4-year presidential term?
I am not trying to put you down, but seriously, the transformation that the USA needs to undergo will take decades. You talk about the horrors of the last 8 years? Democracy has been in trouble since the 1950's, when Dwight Eisenhower warned that Congress and the American people must confront and control the rising power of what he dubbed "the military industrial complex."

If Obama is to be the beginning of an ERA of CHANGE, then he will have to put the economy back on its feet and remove the US from Iraq in his first term. If he can't do that, The People will turn away from him and his philosophy. We are not known for being patient...­.we want it, we want it all.....an­d we want it NOW.

[psfurlong356]

thanks for the lecture grandpa

[Wigglesworth]

You are quite welcome. Someday maybe you can sit at the table with the grown-ups.

[HumeSkeptic]

Thanks for reminding us that Obama is a human being. What would we do without you.

Yes, Clintons are calculating and tough and a formidable political force. However, the fact that within a matter of a few months, Obama has brought Hillary down from the "inevitable nominee" to this, a joke, is indicative of the fact that he is a master politician.

Having Hillary on the ticket would instantly make Obama's message of change go up in flames, I think. I doubt that he would want to give up his biggest asset.

[Wigglesworth]

I am not so convinced that his popularity has to do with his being a master politician. It seems to be more a case of "the right philosophy at the right time." And you are excused for being sarcastic in response to my sincere comment.

[Schnitzel]

I don't personally support Obama because I think he's an amazing candidate. I support Obama because Hillary is a horrible candidate.
The GOP have had 16 years to compile a dossier on her that will make a sucessful presidential run impossible. For the last 8 years is been very transparent that her intention was to run for president and the republicans have been preparing for it the entire time.
Given that Hillary and Bill are not the most ethical people in the world it's a safe bet that there's a lot of skeletons in their closet and as soon as the nominating process is over they're bound to come spilling out with the help of the Drudges, Hannities and Limbaughs of the world. Why do you think republican pundits are so solidly pro-Hillary? Have you heard any republican pundits singing the virtues of Obama? No, because they don't want to see Obama get nominated. Why? Because they're not sure they can beat him. On the other hand they know they can beat Hillary with relative ease.

[Wigglesworth]

You make some good points. As far as McCain being able to beat Clinton, that doesn't seem like a done deal to me. I think it would be a Battle Royale.

[geobushono]

What ever clinton supporters feel about their candidate, she unites repugs and divides the Dems.
If you are a clinton fan and don't acknowledge *this*, you're being naive, or willfully ignorant of the repug mindset.
Clinton unites repugs and maybe her actions are not dictated by her former (stated) political philosophy.

[simplify]

Obama is leading in the race and the implication that Obama should go to the back of the bus is repulsive. Americans hate the implication .

[nohat]

I'm starting to get wound up again---where is Nochnoi?
This thread now has 628 entries, and zero pending. And they are coming in at a rate of about 18 a minute. And the debate, for once, is lively but not deadly.
It is a miracle.
But I'm still starting to get wound up...even seeing the name Hillary makes my blood run hot in my veins.

[kingfishstew]

Denver = Ragnarok

The final battle between good and evil, for the soul of the Democratic Party.

There's only one question: Whose side will you be on?

[Bluesman48]

Not the DLC republican lite scum side, that's for sure.

[ScandalousCandice]

I equated this fight to Smith and Neo before and after Super Tuesday. Check it out.

Part one:

http://scandalouscandice.com/2008/02/05/consider-this-before-you-vote/

Part two:

http://scandalouscandice.com/2008/02/06/consider-this-before-you-vote-part-2/

I just wish I was right about one thing with ST. I quote the Oracle saying: One way or another the path of the one ends tonight. Maybe in hindsight I can say I was right.

[bucagogo]

Me too I get so excited to think we might have a president like Hillary that would make our dreams of better education, healthcare, fair taxes, etc a reality oh, I better contribute this morning again.

[Earl]

You better contribute­...she's way behind.

[HumeSkeptic]

Don't forget the war. Hillary has consistently sided with the NeoCons. She is still promising to follow the NeoCon policiy of not talking to the "evil", that has brought us one foreign policy debacle after another.

When, in this country, would we wake up and say that enough is enough? Are two Bush-Cheney terms not enough?

[InDaZone]

The Clintons are trying to manipulate super delegates.­... it's the only way they can win. They could care less if they disenfranchise millions of new young voters.

[ScandalousCandice]

They might be trying but one thing to consider that the news again refuses to cover, she has not picked up one single Super Delegate in 15 states. In fact she has lost 6. So Barack needs to make that a talking point to his Super Delegates questioning.

[NoFactsJustTruth]

She'll never get the 75% to 80% of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida now needed to take a lead for the Democratic nomination­..

'The Clintons' have ALREADY LOST but would rather tear the party apart - to try again in four years.

Pennsylvanians SHOULD understand this, and vote for unity rather than division. If Democrats DON'T unite for THEIR leading candidate ...THAT CANNOT NOW BE CAUGHT up to, they WILL elect another republiscum.

[ScandalousCandice]

I think Penn. State does understand it. The media and the Clinton fan governor Rendell is leading a lot of people to think that it will be a landslide in PA. After her so called big win she is only ahead by 15% and with 6 weeks to campaign, he will probably over come that and take her down. But the media doesn't want you to know that. or think that. They want this thing all the way to the DNC. And they want to see blood.

[kingfishstew]

It does tell you a lot about the non-politi­cal...just temperment­al...diffe­rences between republicans and democrats in how, once John McCain became mathmatically inevitable, they all rallied behind him...and huckabee stopped saying anything negative about him....

Oh well, Ragnarok!

[vitasackvillewesttexas]

exactly. our leading candidate is barack obama. let's do unite around him and fend off the clintons at this last chance. i was so hoping texas would turn the popular vote for him and we'd be rid of them forever. oh well. this vp ploy is just that. they are losing and need any tricks they can get. DON'T FALL FOR IT.

[Plank]

Hillary will loose Michigan in a re-vote. That should shut them up about the "big states" argument.

[JoJoKewl]

BAGHDAD, March 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Sunday a recent increase in bombings was not the start of a wider trend in Iraq and violence had decreased overall.

Yeah, they also said he had WMDs - the oil would pay for the war and we'd be greeted as 'Liberators'.

[bola47]

i think the clintons have a bridge they want you to buy.