posted by John Nichols on 08/20/2008
This column has been pondering and predicting an Obama-Biden ticket for some time now. That's still the best bet, and now that the announcement is finally imminent, everyone is talking about it.
So, what the heck, let's run the Hillary Clinton scenario one more time:
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton like one another. Obama had Clinton's cell number on speed dial, and vice versa. They maintained stable, even good, personal relations during the primary campaign. When things got ugly, Obama stepped up several times to defend Clinton, and the senator from New York got what might have been the loudest and most sincere round of the campaign when she seemed to suggest at the close of a contentious primary-season debate that she would be willing to join an Obama-led "dream ticket."
But we always knew that the "what to do with Bill Clinton" challenge would steer Obama away from an easy or casual selection of Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate. Again and again through the primary season, it was Bill who said things that seemed to inflame the competition and move both camps to their respective corners. And, of course, there is the fundamental question of where to put an ex-president in an administration that supposed to be all about change.
So the line became: Obama would only pick Clinton if he comes to the conclusion that he needs her badly enough to accept not only his former rival but the complexities that her husband brings to the equation and, of course, their considerable baggage.
Well, the latest polls seem to suggest that Obama finds himself in a circumstance that lends itself to the Clinton consideration.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/346742Flame away, I'm putting on my asbestos suit. :7
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