Talking Over Glossing Over

The question of the week: "What makes Hillary run -- STILL". In other words, what earthly reason does she have to run a campaign she flat cannot win and fritter away money her campaign doesn't have.

There is a simple two word answer: No, no, no. Not THOSE two words. I'm talking about "Saving Face".

You can bet that it's the guiding principle as Clinton and Obama representatives, behind-the-scenes, play "Let's Make a Deal". They are negotiating the conditions of a truce that will allow Hillary to surrender with dignity intact to her new best buddy Barack.

Will that include the vice presidential spot on the Obama ticket? I don't think so, but don't be at all surprised if the withdrawal package includes a public offer from him to be the number two, which, by private agreement, she graciously declines.

You can bet that the final announcements will say nothing about any money that Obama will contribute to bail out the Clinton operation whose leaders spent millions like drunken sailors. Watch, though, to see how much information about that is leaked by "campaign sources". It will be a good way to gauge the remaining hard feelings that the two sides will be trying to gloss over.

And then there's the "Bill question". What about that bad boy? What role will the ex-president have as the campaign moves forward? Will Obama want him to have a role? Can any deal with Hillary include her husband? Could he be counted on to abide by the agreement? Bill Clinton could well be what negotiators call "A Sticking Point"

The other big one is top-level staff. Will those hunkered down in Hillaryland be able to emerge and take orders from people they've spent so many months trying to destroy? And what will they do with the remaining kitchen sinks they no longer can throw at Obama?

These deals are not easy. But you can bet the back channels are humming between the two camps as they both create the final choreography. Actually it's a song- and-dance. The question is whether these two will now be able to perform a duet and then how easy it will be for Senator Clinton to slip into her new role as a background singer.

Comments

[XME]

I'll believe it when I see it. I honestly think she really believes she can convince supers to take it away who has all the numbers in his favor and give it to her. Hopefully she's not holding her breath (or maybe she should!)

[burnt]

I'm hoping that Michelle has garnered some respect for the kind of support she has provided, and will be tapped for her sage advice... Hillary and Bill are a huge part of the problem we face today.

NO MORE CLINTONS IN THE WHITE HOUSE!

[DennyCrane]

I doubt Obama would offer the VP spot to Clinton, even if he expects her to turn it down. JFK offered his bitter rival LBJ the VP spot expecting him to decline. But he didn't and so JFK probably missed out on picking the VP he really wanted. Hopefully, Ted Kennedy will remind Obama of that story.

[sunu20]

Obama needs to stay as far away from Hillary as he can. She's too warlike, too divisive and too self-interested to be a good partner for him. If he took her on as VP it would go a long way toward negating everything he's campaigned on. IMHO nobody connected with the DLC would be good for his campaign.

[Lemeritus]

"Will those hunkered down in Hillaryland be able to emerge and take orders from people they've spent so many months trying to destroy?"

Hmmmm.... with that sort of rhetoric, it does make it sound bitter and unappealing, doesn't it? Was that your intention, Mr. Franken?

[liberalghost]

Heyyyyy, I was gonna say that. Nice to know someone else is as pissed as I am about media hacks trying to push voters in certain directions.

[altohone]

Obama isn't stupid enough to trust that Clinton would stick to an agreement.
If a public offer of VP is made, she will "graciously accept" and leave Obama waving a piece of paper trying to backtrack.

The public offer alone would alienate millions of Democrats.

I see no problem with Obama helping to pay off debt, as long as it's via SEPERATE fundraising and not using existing funds from his donors.

I'm not sure "saving face" has anything to do with it.
Hillary voted with the neocons, and it's far from clear she isn't STILL in the race she lost months ago to help them maintain power.

[hughlont]

According to AP, Obama camp has scheduled a meeting with Christie Todd Whitman, former Gov. NJ, frmr EPA sec. Additionally, the website obamawhitman2008.com was purchased just yesterday... might be an interesting wrinkle...

[suigeneris]

shyeah. right. Like he'd take a GOP Bush crony before the half-dozen other great Democratic female candidates that would make great VP's (none of which are Hillary).

[SamThornton]

Probably means only that the domain name was parked as a speculative investment. People do this all the time.