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.

Comments

[gilesjp]

Hillary doesn't deserve anything. She lost this campaign because of her own shortcomings and democrats don't want her to represent them its simple as that. The lack of moral character displayed with the negative campaign and now the flat out racist argument of electability ( he can't win because he is black so vote for me) only proves she should be no where near the white house. Get over this sense of entitlement for Hillary Clinton. What she really deserves is to be thrown out of the democratic party for this disgraceful circus she calls a campaign.

[bmora]

Not buying it...sorry, Dude. Her high negatives are going to kill Obama in the General.

[Countess]

This is the most depressing thought after her pathetic campaign.

[CanadianAmerican]

Surely you jest?

[AuntSally]

It would be the epitome of a purely political move.

Which is precisely why Obama should pass it up. If his point is changing the game, he loses all credibility in one deft move, should he take your advice. Hillary Clinton is precisely the person we can no longer afford in high office. The vast majority of Hillary's 17 million votes will go to Obama in November. Forget the rest. He'll win anyway, based on current national polling. And if he doesn't, it won't be b/c HRC wasn't his running mate.

[Thabit]

dont call me Shurley

[arkgrfx61]

I do jest....and don't call me Surely..;)

Seriously - I hope he's jesting.
It's not right after she ran her campaign the way she did and then expect to be Obama's right hand woman.
I understand where Mr. Palermo is coming from, but as I concur w/ most of these posters here - it is not the most winnable or even the best ticket that could be made.

[SeriousBlack]

Lovely. It will be just lovely ending up having had Bill as President or First Gentleman, and Hillary as First Lady, Vice-President and President for everything except for 8 years out of 1992 to 2032.

Enough.

Just. Let. It. Go. People.

[lgillooly]

Obama/Clinton is fine,but I like Joe Biden also and he has the experience and Foreign Policy down pat. Tough decision!