Obama and Clinton
For the sake of party unity, Barack Obama might not have any choice but to offer Hillary Clinton the opportunity to join him on the 2008 Democratic Party ticket as his running mate. She has won about 17 million votes and has established herself in her own right as a power inside the Democratic Party. Her support among women cannot be shrugged off. Her primary battles have shown she deserves to be given the option to either accept or reject the vice presidential slot. Her achievement as the first woman in American history to come so close to winning the presidential nomination of a major political party has opened doors for a new generation of women.
I just wish she had run a more dignified campaign instead of spewing forth Republican talking points. Bill Clinton should have kept his big mouth shut instead of angering African-American voters by saying that Obama had "put a hit out" on him. Hillary was at her worst when she triangulated against Obama by playing up John McCain's "experience" and denigrating Obama has offering nothing but "a speech." She should not have genuflected to Richard Mellon Scaife or parroted McCain's stupid gas tax "holiday."
But now it's time to put aside the acrimony of the primaries and get the party's act together.
The current Democratic scenario reminds me of the 1960 John F. Kennedy race. At the July convention in Los Angeles, John and Robert Kennedy offered the vice presidential slot to Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson. They were convinced that Johnson would turn it down because he was such a powerful figure on Capitol Hill and he wouldn't want to join a younger candidate, an Irish Catholic, who could very well lose. But Johnson surprised the Kennedys by jumping at the chance to be vice president, he wasted no time in snatching up the offer. The political press called it a stroke of genius on the part of the Kennedys because Johnson could help in the South, but Johnson was in reality not their first choice.
My point is that Hillary should jump at the chance of becoming the first woman vice president. She will be in an excellent position to unite the party behind her leadership after Obama's two terms. And we will need her to be president for two terms because it's going to take at least 16 years to begin to clean up the damage to the nation that George W. Bush has left behind.
Think about Hillary's choices: She can either be a backbencher in the Senate helping the Obama administration win votes for Democratic-sponsored legislation, or she could be the first woman vice president. She wants to build back her support among African Americans in preparation of another presidential run. A President Obama could use Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and Al Gore to great effect. Bill Clinton would have to toe the line -- and he would because that's the smart thing to do politically. Hillary could become the first woman president in 2016. She could help as Vice President with health care and other issues she has been involved with for decades. The question is whether Hillary would accept the VP slot. I think, like LBJ, she should jump at the chance. The card she holds is 17 million Democratic votes, including huge numbers of women.
Hillary has baggage. She energizes the Republican base in the most misogynistic, extreme, and irrational ways. She can be painted as a "dynastic" candidate because of the "Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton" narrative allowing McCain to pretend he is something "new." But as she herself has said on many occasions she shares with Obama far more positions on where she wants to take the nation than she does with McCain. And she brings no real "heft" in the form of being connected to the military other than being on the Armed Services Committee. (We all know that McCain is going to run on his military record and "heroism" as the dominant narrative of his campaign, which is why I like Jim Webb as a possible running mate.) Whether or not Hillary can deliver a swing state or two to Obama that he might have lost with another running mate is something we will just have to wait and see. I think Hillary will follow LBJ's path in 1960 and snatch up her place on the ticket if it is offered to her. And her 17 million votes show that even after all of her and Bill's negative attacks she deserves at least to be offered the VP slot.
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Kathleen Sebelius is a better choice. She is governor of a red state ( Kansas). She is from Ohio of which her father was governor. She has sound economic policies. She is a woman and she appeals to rural whites. She is solid and strong. She is more than Hillary.
Why not? It might appease the half of the party that voted for her. No one has ever gone to the nomination on ground as thin as Obama's. He has major demographic weaknesses, and perhaps the only way to counter them is to put the runner up on the ticket. Anyone calling it a "nightmare" ticket is startlingly unaware of her appeal with people outside of the blogopshere. They are loyal and they will follow her to the White House. Or else they are simply being sexist, for if she were a white male with her primary accomplishments, she'd probably be a sure thing.
You seem startlingly unaware of the intense dislike she instills in people outside of the blogosphere. That's not a desirable trait in a running mate.
Barack putting his heartbeat between Hillary and the presidency after this campaign
I THINK NOT
"if she were a white male with her primary accomplishments, she'd probably be a sure thing."
I have news for you, that's a sexist comment. Look in the mirror to find who is preaching sexism and divisiveness.
And just for the record, he has more ~elected~ experience than she does. He served as state Senator during the 1990s.
GOP advertisement if Hillary is on the ticket:
"(Roll clip of Hillary Clinton from earlier this year:) 'I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.'
Even Obama's running mate knows John McCain is the better choice for America. Vote John McCain for President.
I'm John McCain, and I approve this message. So does Hillary Clinton!"
If Democrats are looking for a new way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, putting Clinton on the ticket would be a great way to do it.
I dunno. There have been several hard-fought primary campaigns for president, Congress and various statewide offices in my lifetime, but I don't recall ever seeing a commercial like that in a general election.
That's because most primary contenders are more respectful of their opponents than Clinton has been of Obama.
It's time for Howard Dean to exercise some leadership and sort out the Florida and Michigan mess that he enabled.
The Florida and Michigan Democrats were railroaded by their state legislatures and didn't create this mess on their own, and to punish them by petulantly excluding their voices without taking that reality into account will cause the Democrats a lot of Electoral College heartache in those two states.
This is not to say that Hillary Clinton should be acceeded to, because she agreed with the DNC decision, at least until it became convenient for her not to. Even if she is given a majority of Florida and Michigan delegates, Barack Obama should not be punished for obeying the rules, no matter how shortsighted and self-deafeating they were. If she were given a 60-40 split of delegates, it would not get her an overall majority, but would help to satisfy the Florida and Michigan voters, and put a stake through another of Clinton's spurious arguments.
For Howard Dean to sit idly by while Hillary Clinton uses the situation to satisfy her own ego and minimize Democratic Party chances in November displays weakness, and the Republican sharks will use that weakness to the fullest extent possible between now and November 4th.
Clinton has shown no loyalty to her supposed party, and the only reason to give her a VP slot is if it would help Barack Obama become president in the fall. The jury on that is still out.
Barack Obama has made excellent personnel choices thus far, and I expect no less from him when he chooses a running mate. Once he gets to take over the DNC from the Clintons I think we'll all see positive changes and more victories for Democrats around the country.
Your VP is supposed to be an asset, not a liability. Why would you want someone who'd energize the Republican party and undercut Senator Obama's message of change.
Those issues needed to be addressed in your article.
His other message is 'unity' - how do you present yourself as a uniting figure if you cant unite your own party first???
What makes you think there is no other way to unite the party?
He can only unity people who continue to have an open mind and are rational.
A unifier isn't obligated to bring people to the table, only to try. Senator Obama will listen and try to bring you to the table, but he can't make you. You need to decide that.
She wouldn't be my first choice, but I have no problem with Sen. Clinton being on the ticket if Sen. Obama decides to offer it to her, for party unity or any other reason. She is after all a passionate and articulate spokesperson for the Democratic Party. And the politics of inclusion should certainly include her and her supporters. And to continue to demonize her now that she clearly has lost is very counterproductive.
I do think that Gov. Richardson, John Edwards and Sen. Webb would probably bring more to the ticket in terms of potential electoral votes than Sen. Clinton. But having her on the ticket would not be the end of the world, by any means.
If Barack asks Hillary to be the VP, well that would be some serious appeasement. She stands against everything that he represents.
The sad thing about this whole Democratic primary, a lot of Democrats were SO HAPPY to have two awesome candidates. Everyone had his/her favorite, but they would have happily voted for the other, because no one wanted another Bush term.
And in the beginning, no one hated Hillary, I know I didn't , people just preferred Barack. Akin to the Coke v. Pepsi debate. Barack spoke to the liberal (the loyalist segment IMO) of the Democratic Party.
And lets face it, Hillary's campaign decision not to fight for the caucus states killed her. Instead of blaming her campaign advisers, she turns negative and went on a scorched Earth policy within the party.
She became polarizing, that is when she destroyed her own political future and turned a lot of people against her. That is when she lost any shot of being apart of change.
The candidate who becomes the nominee for president is NOT obligated to offer the second spot on the ticket to the candidate with the second largest number of supporters.
The candidate who becomes the nominee for president has the right to name anyone -- whether or not that individual vied in the primaries -- who will provide the most support, regional pull, credentials expansion or any other criterion deemed important by the nominee.
I pray Senator Obama has more sense, and I believe he does, than those constantly advancing this nightmare-
I ask again, where in the history of this nation has a presidential nominee been forced to take anyone not of their choosing as a running mate?
If there is precedence someone, anyone, please inform me.
This is beyond ridiculous.
Obama needs this on his ticket like Tokyo needs Godzilla for the Mayor.
I think it's a TERRIBLE idea for many reasons. Not the least of which is that she represents politics as usual and would put a huge dent in Obama's "change" message.
Jim Webb is a much better choice. He'd be the perfect counterbalance to McCain's military credentials, and he'd boost Obama's numbers among the white, working class voters that Hillary claims she could win from McCain.
Noooooooooooo! Webb for Vice President
You stated exactly why Clinton can't be Obama's running mate. The truth is that she has disqualified herself to a lot of Democrats like me who were so turned off by the kind of campaign she ran. I was determined, for the first time in my adult voting life, not to vote for the Democratic nominee if she were nominated. Thankfully, that scare is now over, but if Obama were to put Clinton on the ticket, it would again give me pause. I no more want her as the vice-presidential candidate of my party than I would as the presidential candidate. It's that simple. I hope, for the good of the party and the good of the nation, that after this campaign the days of the Clinton domination of the Democratic party are over.
Party unity? Are you referring to the Clinton Party or the Democratic Party?
If all Americans who desire progress and have high expections to see those desires reflected in action and change, Obama will need the help and support of a wide range of talent and strong support in his administration. Those of us who support that change should insist that he carefully examine all those who might be willing to serve an expanded VP position, and choose the best and brightest, with experience, support and dependability as high attributes.
The Clintons could never be on that list. They are self-servi
They can not be part of the solution..
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Posted May 22, 2008 | 01:35 PM (EST)