WSJ, pg1: Clinton Unlikely as No. 2

[DeepModem Mom]

Clinton Unlikely as No. 2
Concession Expected Saturday; Obama Camp Discounts VP Talk
By JACKIE CALMES
June 5, 2008; Page A1

WASHINGTON -- Supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton suggested she would like to be Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, but close advisers to Sen. Obama are signaling that an Obama-Clinton ticket is highly unlikely. Some in the Clinton camp also noted a possible deal-breaker for a party-unity ticket: Bill Clinton may balk at releasing records of his business dealings and big donors to his presidential library....

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Mr. Clinton refused during his wife's 17-month presidential campaign to release records of his financial dealings and details of his presidential library's major donors. Even if Mr. Clinton did open his records as part of the traditional vice-presidential vetting process, the unprecedented complications he would pose for an Obama White House as the vice president's spouse go deeper and broader than his personal records, Democrats on both sides say. A former president's global travels for his humanitarian foundation, speeches here and abroad for which he has received up to a quarter-million dollars, financial deals and everyday utterances could pose "a whole host" of conflicts with the policies of an Obama administration, Democrats say.

Referring to a potential vice-presidential slot for Sen. Clinton, a senior Obama adviser says: "The more this gets vetted the less likely it becomes."

Sen. Clinton would present problems of her own for Sen. Obama, advisers in both camps say: As half of the couple that has dominated in the Democratic Party and Washington for 16 years, she would "completely undermine the Obama message'' of change and new direction in politics, as one Clinton confidant put it. That could well override the political advantages that some other supporters have been promoting, notably her fellow New York Democrats in Congress: That Sen. Clinton could help Sen. Obama win the support of women, blue-collar workers, seniors and white men -- all groups that the Illinois senator had trouble with during their nomination race....

Obama advisers say Sen. Clinton should have as much time as she needs to decide how and when to quit the race. But some of his supporters are irritated at what they interpret as pressure on Sen. Obama from her side to offer her the No.2 spot....

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Sen. Obama probably won't announce a running mate for a while, perhaps waiting as long as August, a supporter said. The Democratic convention is Aug. 25-28 in Denver. His campaign and the three-person search team will draw up a list of possible choices and test Sen. Obama's support in different regions and demographic groups, to decide which potential running mates could best help him, this person said....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121262109484746703.html