Marc Ambinder reports on yet another push for a so-called dream ticket of Clinton/Obama:
Hillary/Obama ’08 becomes official today. In a way.
A Clinton insider who served as ex campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle’s executive assistant for several years has set up a new website, http://www.voteboth.com/ and plans to register with the Federal Election Commission today.
VoteBoth urges Democrats to support a joint Clinton-Obama ticket.
Its creator, Adam Parkhomenko, resigned from the campaign three weeks ago.
He had been one of the first employees of the 2006 incarnation of Clinton’s political action committee, HillPAC, and his proximity to the powers of the campaign will raise the question of whether the effort is sanctioned by the campaign. (Parkhomenko says that the idea was his own.)
It looks like one more desperation move from Clinton supporters. Having Obama running as VP wouldn’t make the prospect of a Clinton presidency any more palatable to me. While I doubt they have any interest in the reverse ticket, I would still vote for Obama if he felt forced to run with Clinton, but would see her as a poor choice for running mate.
Rather than the Dream Ticket, how about the Sweet Dreams Ticket? Since Hillary Clinton seems to like answering the phone at 3 a.m., Obama could promise to make her a special White House assistant in charge of handling any crisis calls which come in at that hour. This would allow Obama to have a good night’s sleep and enjoy sweet dreams, keeping him refreshed for during the day when the real work is done. As there is rarely a call at 3 a.m. which requires presidential intervention, Hillary Clinton’s poor judgment and lack of ethics is not likely to do the country any serious harm in such a position.
This is more like the “nightmare ticket”. This is the MOST unlikely scenario (virtually impossible). But I’ll tell you what we should watch for is the “unity ticket”. People are talking about brokered conventions. When Hillary loses the remaining contest (i.e. fails to sweep), the proposal will be made for her to run as vice president on the Obama/Clinton ticket. Hillary is desperate enough to offer this. Hillary and Bill’s objective is to just get back into the White House. Watch for it.
A Clinton/Obama ticket is unlikely since it is unlikely (but not impossible) for Clinton to win the nomination. However if she does win she might not have any chance but to choose Obama (if he wants it). If Hillary wins it will most likely be due to doing things which are seen as unfair, and she will need Obama on the ticket to keep his supporters from staying home or voting for McCain.
I’m not so sure Clinton would want to be VP as she could have more clout by going after a position such as Senate Majority Leader or possibly Governor of New York.
I’ve heard the argument that Senate Majority Leader under an Obama presidency would be ‘THE’ power position for Hillary, but I think infosyster’s scenario is far more likely. That would be her chance to make up for the damage she has done to the party, and the opposite of Ron’s comment is still valid: that she would be useful on Obama’s ticket to keep her supporters in the fold.
It would never happen, but it’s fun to think it through – McCain / Clinton? As a friend of mine says – it fits on a bumpersticker…