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I Know Many of You Are Going to Laugh.....OBAMA/CLINTON
but I have been saying this since last October - and I still think it is has a high probability of happening:
OBAMA/CLINTON '08.
Because the near-perfect analogy would be:
KENNEDY/JOHNSON '60.
Now I may be crazy - but behind the much-subdued actual Clinton/Obama verbiage directed at each other since early May, I am more convinced than ever that most of what we have seen has been carefully scripted and planned for - and that they will come together for the public and their political bases in the end.
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Comments (23)
You are crazy. There is no way Obama would have Clinton on the ticket--he knows his supporters would feel betrayed and it would destroy his candidacy. I'll say it again, you are crazy.
May 31, 2008 4:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
You clearly didn't hear Obama's response to a question on this in Indiana. He said that he is a practical minded guy; he said his overriding interest would be in doing whatever it takes to win in the fall. He also said he'd been much impressed by Doris whatshername's bio of Lincoln, in which she'd analysed Lincoln bringing in all his `enemies` in the lead up to the election - that it was better to keep your enemies close rather than have them outside and isolated to plot your downfall. (My words - can't remember the exact ones used.)
Bear in mind that Obama doesn't have to only cater to his own base - he has to bring in hers.
BTW it was also notable that when he was answering the question his wording placed heavy emphasis on cabinet, didn't only reference VEEP.
I'm hoping that if he gets the nomination he can get her and her camp onside by offering to help pay her debt and give her a key cabinet post.
May 31, 2008 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
No paying her debt. No way. What is she offering him, really? Do you really think her feminist supporters are going to vote for McCain, who will stack the courts and overturn Roe v. Wade?
May 31, 2008 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
But what is Hillary's "base" going to do if Hill doesn't get the VP slot? Are they really going to vote for McCain?
On the other hand, think of the wonders Hillary on the ticket will do for McCain. All he needs to do is quote her in his campaign ads.
Finally, Hillary's despicable behavior in the primary should not be rewarded.
May 31, 2008 5:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is what Clinton is trying to force with all of this drama she is causing. If Obama was willing to have her as his VP it would have never came this far. I have a feeling Obama squashed any talk of a joint ticket in high level discussions which is why Hillary and Co went nuclear.
May 31, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
You both must be young - because the war of words that went on between Jack Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson throughout the Spring and early Summer of 1960 makes this year's primary tangles look like a lovefest.
That did not stop Kennedy from doing what he had to do to win the election when the time came.
You see - successful politicians know when to put personal issues aside and form alliances with those one would think would NEVER do so.
And just to correct one of you - a MAJORITY of Clinton supporters have said in polls that they would vote for an Obama/Clinton ticket if she is offered the Vp slot and she WILLINGLY accepts that position after the primaries are concluded and the impossibility of her gaining the Presidential nomination is clear.
May 31, 2008 5:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
"successful politicians know when to put personal issues aside and form alliances with those one would think would NEVER do so"
Yep. The old axiom - there are no friendships in politics - only alliances.
It works in the obverse too.
May 31, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for suggesting I'm young. I wish I were. The thing is, Obama doesn't need Clinton on the ticket. He just doesn't, so why even talk about it? He needs an alliance with his VP choice, as you suggest, not a sore loser and her husband. She has everything to gain by it, and he has little. That said, I don't think that 1960 is any longer a good model or paradigm for today's political climate.
May 31, 2008 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Given how JFK's term ended, I'm not sure that's such a great example.
May 31, 2008 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
What if Hillary UNWILLINGLY accepts? Is that even possible?
May 31, 2008 6:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
And if so, how would we even know that she accepted a VP slot against her will?
May 31, 2008 6:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama/Henry '08
May 31, 2008 5:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama would need a food taster and would have to stay out of "Dallas."
May 31, 2008 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
He should also avoid pumping his own gas:
May 31, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kate:
I don;t disagree with you - but I don't see any VP selection Obama can make right now that is not offset almost completely by any VP selection McCain can make.
Hillary - for better or worse - has a proven and massive base she brings with her - more than offsetting any votes Obama would lose to those who despise her.
codegen:
I would, of course, advise Obama to avoid motorcades and most large Texas cities. :)
May 31, 2008 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I still have faith that Obama has a short list of brilliant choices and that McCain is SOOO weak that it will all fall together, without Clinton on the ticket. I do hope he reaches out to her to help him in the General Election and it certainly would be nice if he were considering a cabinet post for her (or seat with the Supremes).
And I think the food taster idea is a good one in any event, at least for the short term.
May 31, 2008 5:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
LBJ didn't have Bill Clinton looming in the background, which makes a huge difference.
May 31, 2008 5:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not laugh; retch.
She hasn't campaigned in a manner befitting a future supporter. Even now she is tearing at the party and diminishing its chances for the fall, pressing arguments that make our party seem as unprincipled and dimwitted as Republicans.
May 31, 2008 5:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is a good point Re: Bill CLinton in the background.
Also - campaigns in 1960 were nothing like today - there being no 24 hour news and INternet and endless opportunities for missteps to become public.
Most of the truly horrendous things each man said about the other had to wait for political books long after the fact.
May 31, 2008 7:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
In the words of Harold Ickes, it happens only if Clinton "hijacks" the VEEP slot. And in regards to CNN it's a Barack Obama decision, not a Hillary and Barack decision. To my knowledge, she hasn't been asked.
May 31, 2008 7:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Forget about Bill, there's also the issue of her acolytes.
Can you see Obama letting Ickes, Mark Penn and Lanny Davis into the White House inner circle?
The Kennedy-LBJ analogy is flawed. They just really disliked each other.
May 31, 2008 8:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you posting this everywhere?
Here's the deal. IF Clinton stands up on top of the top steps of the Lincoln memorial and apologizes for all the awful things she has done in this primary process, including: Playing the race card, inferring that Obama is a muslim, repeatedly bringing up his pastor, saying that McCain would be ready to lead on day one, screaming that Obama is sexist, and sending her dogs out after him, screaming that Obama STOLE the election from her, and lastly, inferring that she was hanging around in case he got assassinated with these words:
I am very, very sorry that I (fill in the blanks, one by one) and I hope that Barack Obama accepts my deepest apologies for all I have put him through...I will consider it.
No fake apologies, I hope that noone took offense at anything that I said...that will not work.
She needs to get on her knees and beg forgiveness.
This will never ever happen, because her ego and her selfishness are so very much larger than any desire to be VICE President. She still wants the presidency and will maybe suspend her candidacy, but will not concede, and will be hoping and praying that one of her nutjob supporters helps her out.
May 31, 2008 8:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kateo
Obama does need Clinton's supporters. He may have a majority of the dels, but not by much. This is not a landslide by any means. Obama still has to win in November and this will not happen without the other 5/12 of the team. It is still that close. If Clinton supporter feel that Obama and his supporters don't need them they will stay home. This man wants to be President of the United States. He is not representing just Obama supporters, he will be representing the Democratic Party as well as every American. He said he is a uniter. How? Unless he unites the party, how can he hope to unite the nation. He needs Clinton on that ticket!
June 1, 2008 3:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
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