Obama-Clinton Group VoteBoth Shuts Down

WASHINGTON — An effort to urge Barack Obama to pick former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate is shutting down under the assumption she is not a contender for the No. 2 spot.

The two former Clinton staffers who started the group Vote Both say Obama's decision to offer Clinton a prime-time speaking role at the Democratic Party nominating convention and other signals suggest Obama will not chose her.

"Because it seems that Senator Obama has made his decision to offer the slot on the ticket to another candidate, we believe that continuing to ask him to pick Hillary is no longer helpful to our party's chances of winning in November," Adam Parkhomenko and Sam Arora wrote in an e-mail they planned to send Thursday to the 40,000-plus supporters who signed onto their online petition.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the campaign won't comment on the vice presidential search and hasn't finalized the convention speaking program. Obama and Clinton advisers have said Clinton is likely to speak on the convention's second night, Aug. 26, which is the 88th anniversary of the ratification of the amendment giving the women the right to vote.

Parkhomenko and Arora have a combined 10 years experience working for Clinton. Most recently Arora was a press aide to her presidential campaign and Parkhomenko was executive assistant to former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, who is now chief of staff for Obama's yet-to-be named vice presidential nominee.

In an interview, Arora was coy about what makes them so confident Clinton won't be chosen.

"All indications we have from people close to Senator Clinton and Senator Obama are that Hillary is not on the short list," Arora said. "We're looking at how we can _ if we can _ use Vote Both to help him because we want a Democrat in the White House."

Obama said this week that he wants a running mate who will help him change how business has been conducted in Washington _ seen by many as an indication that he won't pick Clinton.

___

On the Net:

http://www.voteboth.com

Comments

[EuroRant1]

OK it is time to move on ... I'm not 100% crazy about Senator Obama. We exPats living overseas here in Europe got a real taste last week about how the world is "depending" on us to make some real changes at home and in the world.

But listening to all the continued bickering going on at home about the Hilary/Obama issue makes me cringe inside. Come on, let's get over it, we must now stand behind our candidate. Our nation stands literally on a great abyss of disaster ... after the most destructive 8 years of our Constitution, there is simply too much to get accomplished ... the world is holding it's breathe for us - didn't 200,000+ Germans in Berlin prove that last week?

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” - John F Kennedy

[sf94127]

O will pick a weak, nobody just like he is.

[MyGuyO]

This is a big, big relief.

But wait...wha­t's this I read about a new woman's group making a big fuss at the DNC convention nominating Hillary in place of Barack. Even though he Barack Obama is the presumptive nominee, they are prepared to make B I G waves. It still will be all about Hillary. She is not gone yet.

[peaches2008]

Hillary and Bill will never be" Also" anythings.
They will Always be remembered as President and First Lady ,William and Hillary Clinton. I personally think the disrespect people show others is just another sign of how Far we as a Nation have digressed.
Hillary Clinton is the best candidate, she has experience, as does Her Husband,
Bill has excellent diplomatic skills, that are much needed in the times and situation we find ourselves in with the rest of the world,
I also personally at times like these, which as we all know, are the closest we have come to really being in trouble since the depression,want and need my leader to be solid, experienced, intelligent and able to talk peaceably with the rest of the world and negotiate on our behalf , instead of resorting to more irag or onto another war, which has depleted this nations coiffers, patience and crediblity .
This Nation needs someone we can trust to get the job done.
When i look around at this juncture , the only person i see capable of fitting that bill, Are First Hillary Clinton,
And as i recall Under The Clintons this nation was in very good financail condition, when your nation is in good financial condition, you can afford to talk about universal health care that works, that is if We're not spending trillions on a war we never wanted in the first place.
Why has no one brought up these points before?

[PoliJunkie]

WJC is not running anymore he had his eight years. OVER!!!

[foreffectivegovernment]

PoliJunkie: You're right, Bill Clinton had his eight years of Peace and Prosperity and I was sad that Al Gore couldn't carry on because he did not want Bill Clinton to support him.
I was thrilled that Hillary Clinton was the presumed nominee when the nomination race started in 2008 because we would surely have the benefit of two experienced politicians in the Whitehouse to repair the Bush mess again.
Then along came an inexperienced one-term Senator who had promised Tim Russert he would not have enough experience and would not run in 2008 and ruined the whole plan. Too bad Obama lied!
MR. RUSSERT: But there seems to be an evolution in your thinking. This is what you told the Chicago Tribune last month: “Have you ruled out running for another office before your term is up?” Obama answer: “It’s not something I anticipate doing.” But when we talked back in November of ‘04 after your election I said, “There’s been enormous speculation about your political future. Will you serve your six-year term as United States senator from Illinois?” Obama: “Absolutel­y.”
SEN. OBAMA: I will serve out my full six-year term. You know, Tim, if you get asked enough, sooner or later you get weary and you start looking for new ways of saying things. But my thinking has not changed.
MR. RUSSERT: So you will not run for president or vice president in 2008?
SEN. OBAMA: I will not.

[FACINGREALIT]

It is also SAD that we can continually find excuses to elect people who have no RESPECT for the people. Bill Clinton sullied the house of the people w/o any regards to his position as POTUS - Hillary ran a Republican campaign against a fellow Democrat yet you want us to reward their bad behavior. No wonder so many children are lost and disrespectful - because the adults in their lives are full of mixed messages. If you child disbehaves - do you reward them or teach them that bad decisions have consequences. As to the war - you do remember that ole Hill voted for it w/o finding it necessary to read the report. Do you ever wonder why she can only resolve the health care issue as POTUS instead of taking on that battle in the Senate? And just for the record - how do you think that they could leave the White House 12 million in debt and accumulate 110 million plus in 8 short years? Does the pardons Bill gave unnerve you at all? America can and will do better than these two. It is sad that you feel they are our ONLY hope!

Hillary and Bill are just fine - they are richer than 97% of Americans could every wish to be - they've craved out their niche in life but they should NEVER AGAIN represent the morals and values of our citizentry ever again. Our children and grandchildren deserve better.

[LiberTLover]

The same reason no one has brought up the 120 pages sitting in the Senate vault that were redacted (that means taken out ) from the B arrett Report in 2006 about C linton Administration corruption involving the IRS and Dept. of Justice. Not everything is black and white and the C lintons were not all good. Let's just leave it at that.

[JDowlin1]

Peaches, I couldn't agree with you more. I think O is making a big mistake. If HRC had won she would have chosen him (as she indicated). She would have had the sense to unite the party. I don't know much about this Kaine guy but I don't like the looks of him (literally). I know you can't judge a book by its cover, but he gives me the creeps. Then I read from these blogs that he is pro-life and anti- gay. That explains it. If BO picks anyone but Hillary, my heart will not be in this election, rock star in Europe or not.

[JDowlin1]

I donated. I would love to have dinner with Hillary. In fact, I would much rather do that than be backstage with the big O at his convention address. The presumptuous nominee has failed to win me over. I never liked the taste of kool-aid.

[ChewyToy22]

My first thought when I saw this was surprise: that Hillary supporters actually realize how unlikely Clinton as VP was. But then, reading this thread, I'm even more amazed that some of them still just don't get that her chances were near nil.

I honestly thought they had all come to the realization a long time ago that it was Obama or McCain and she would not be a bargaining chip for their votes. To read here that some have only just made up their minds that Obama would not get their vote really surprises me.

But keep hope alive, he hasn't named his VP yet.

[KathyIndiana]

The sad thing is, if Hillary had run a different campaign - based on issues instead of lies and racism - she would have made a wonderful vice president, and Obama would probably have picked her. She and Bill did themselves in, and from now on both will be irrelevant to Washington and politics in general.

[dcazal01]

Obama is a very bad candidate Dem are 13+ in the generic congressional vote and Obama is 1+ in the last Gallup RV+ and 4- in LV He is at least 11- his own party while mc Cain is 10+ his party a great candidate. why? he looks and act like a midstream american and all over the world people vote for people that look like them. Obama instead of adding to the democratic party is substracting, he can win do to the fact that big states are dem but if Obama attack Mc Cain the reaction of white america will be bad. Mc Cain continuos provocation will ignite an Obama response that will benefit republicans. I will vote Obama but my money is Mc Cain for 44 potus. The European tour hurt him we like french as much as they like us.

[Triangle1]

I hate to say it, but listening to all of the raving Obama enthusiasts trash Hillary for months really made me decide I don't want Obama as president. I don't want McCain either. I would have voted for Obama had Hillary been on the ticket. And probably would have HALF the other Democrats who went out and voted for Hillary. I think I'm just going to write in Al Gore or some other decent candidate instead when I vote. But Obama has all of that money and all of that love. He'll be fine, right?

[Rotwang]

Waste your vote any way you want. This is America.

[11907281]

The old "cause of O's supports" line ... only heard that one thousands of times. It's America, screw it up at your own discretion.

[JDowlin1]

You're right. Hillary will be blamed no matter how the election turns out.

[condew]

I suspect the only thing that would have pleased you would be to overturn an election and give the nomination to poor Hillary, 'cause she worked so hard.

I think we ended up with the right candidate; she pulled out all the stops including some Rovian dirty tricks and spending $22 million more than she raised, and he still remained a gntleman, and he still beat her. It shows that there is value in being a politican who worked his way up thru state and local elections.

You can vote for third best, but it means that you really didn't support Hillary for what she stands for, because McCain is the opposite on just about every issue while Obama only differed from Hillary on whether health insurence ought to be manditory.

So that just leaves how Hillary and McCain look the same and Obama looks different. I wonder what that key difference is.

[DontBeFoolish]

Then you are as FOOLISH as Hillary. Your one missing vote could put McCain in office. If this isn't a plant comment, designed to subliminally plant this idea in heads of angered HRC supporters, then I say to you. STOP THE HATE, the Repubs must GOOOOOOOOOO.

[08politicaljunkie]

Why not just write-in 'Ol George W B for a third term? You know you want him.

[OtayPanky]

In other news, Britney gave up custody of the kids to K-fed, and Michael Jackson's nose fell off again.

[sharonh]

She never wanted the VP--it was just a show of support to O--something too few of his supporters give her credit for.

[theMightyT]

what, offering him the vp spot when he was winning?

[Agnim]

It's funny how Hilary Clinton continues to polarize and paralyze American politics. lol

Anyone else find it curious that her 18 million supporters can't help retire the Clintons' debt?
Just 2 dollars a head would do the trick, no? lol

The Clintons are MILLIONAIRES many times over!
Yet the elitist Clintons want to lean on poorer Americans to bail them out of a debt which the elitist Clintons can afford?
How unconscionable!

[sunny555]

Senator O., you just lost my vote.

[marijam]

Possibly mine too. I haven't made up my mind yet and probably won't until it's time to mark the ballot on voting day.

[11907281]

Any hill supporter who thinks like that, was never a hill supporter to begin with. Can you please tell me what it is that would make vote for Mac?

[shelby3]

oh well......­you/she cant strong arm your way into the vp spot. Vote McCain if thats what you have to do, afterall it is your right.

[IamPhenom]

I can't believe anyone would even think of voting Republican right now. They have failed our country at every level. What more proof do you need besides the last 8 years? Obama will bring over many of the old Clinton economic team, such as Robert Rubin. We'll start converting our country to renewable energy and break our addiction to oil. We need to appoint more moderate and liberal Supreme Court Justices.

I hope you would look at the big picture and reconsider. More years of a Republican administration could cripple us permanently.

[HKP]

Good riddance. You can always vote for John "I am the White Man" McCain. No surprise here.

[truthskr]

The VP won't be making any presidential decisions, Obama will be, so I don't see why this really changes anything for anyone, Obama or Clinton supporters alike. Obama's VP isn't going to Cheney-like powers, I pray, so Clinton supporters thinking she (any anyone else named Obama's VP) would hold a huge amount of sway need to readjust their expectations.

[go4thegold]

McCain is a prolife, anti gay candidate himself... and he's running for the top spot... so If you don't like Kaine's stance on those issues, why vote McCain? D.

[cadbury]

I voted for HRC, but I plan to vote for Obama in Nov. HOWEVER, if Obama picks a Repub like Hagel or an anti-gay and/or pro-life Dem, it would be VERY difficult for me to vote for him. After all, the VP is only "a heartbeat from the presidency".

[yhgtup]

I'm glad this has come to an end, finally. Let's hope those 40,000 Hillary for V.P folks will all come aboard & help Barack win the whitehouse. My question remains ------ Where the hell is Bill????
He's really "showing his true colors".

[Rotwang]

He's in Africa, working for his AIDS foundation. It's not like he and Hillary hang out together when they're not campaigning, and I suspect he's had enough "family time" to last him till 2012.

[londonrainbow]

Bill is in Africa doing something for AIDS and the Clinton foundation. Terry Mc is on trip to,.

[Old Writer]

I'm fascinated. What are Bill's "true colors"?

Is it that he created 2.5 million jobs in his first two years, created the largest deficit reduction, created a surplus, gave tax cuts to 15 million low-income families and small businesses, put 100,000 new police officers on the street, created the Family and Medical Leave Act, reduced the White House staff by 25 percent, created the Student Loan program...­on and on.
Is that what you mean by his true colors?

Howtowritecomedy.com

[condew]

He is Hillary's FAITHFUL supporter, not Obama's. But he'll come around.

[LiberTLover]

120 pages redacted from the Barrett report, on corruption in the Admin, involving the IRS and Justice Dept, now kept in a senate safe. Call your Congressman and ask for a copy.

[sharonh]

Perhaps he is staying away at O's request--ever thought of that? He certainly did his wife no favors campaigning for her.

[joe973]

I am no Hillary Fan but, he should do the kennedy and bush 41 thing, and pick someone you don't like much but who would guarantee a win. On top of that this election is historical for african americans why not make it historical for woman too? bottom line people voted for Bush twice, yep twice! so that'll be naive to think that an easy win is coming Obama's way; he should go for the homerun not the single....

From A stressed out Obama fan!