Home > Jay Bookman > Archives > 2008 > June > 04 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USMaybe a veep scenario like this….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On further reflection, here’s how this MAY play out:
Obama will not be hasty in picking his veep. And if he does select Hillary, he would have to do so from a position of strength in which their relative positions were clear — he’s the boss, she does what she’s told — to everybody, including Bill and Hillary.
His campaign could achieve that through a process like that followed by previous nominees of both parties: Drawing up a list of potential candidates, invite them to come to Obama for an interview, be vetted, etc., just as McCain is doing.
Hillary would have to go through the process, if for no other reason than to demonstrate that Obama is the nominee and that she accepts both her loss and his position as head of the party. If she agrees to go through that process like several other candidates — Edwards, Richardson, Sebelius, etc., — Obama would have a hard time rejecting her and picking somebody else.
On the other hand, if she decides that she does not want the second spot or is too stubbornly proud to go through the process — a likely scenario given last night’s performance — she should appear alongside Obama, endorse him but graciously bow out of consideration.
If she takes any other course, she seriously damages Obama, the Democratic Party and her future. She would take a lot of the blame, and deservedly so, for an Obama defeat, and that in turn would probably dash any hopes that the party would turn to her for national office in the future.
Again, that MAY be how things play out in the weeks to come. It ought to be fascinating….
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Comments
By Jay Bookman
June 4, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this
To George:
Your comment was pulled down because of obscenity. It was also profoundly wrong. If the Cox family owns the Washington Post, that would certainly come as a very big surprise to the Graham family, which has owned the Post for decades.
By David B.
June 4, 2008 8:46 AM | Link to this
Hillary has already put her future on the line as of last night’s speech. She could have shown class. She could have shown decorum. Instead she chose to take the low road again, failing the electorate and the country as a whole.
Her puerile tactics dividing the electorate for her own selfish ends reveal a person who is either deeply conflicted and listening to the wrong advice, or someone who so mired in her own glory as to be deep-sea diving in a sea of denial.
By Al
June 4, 2008 9:00 AM | Link to this
Did she win? No, why do she think that she can call the shot? She ran a very poor race and she lost. It would had been better for her to congra Sen. Obama, and it would had helped her in the process. How could he trust the Clinton in the future if she is still thinking that she a better canidate. She lost, she lost, she lost. Congra the winner and shake hands and support the goal of helping right the wrong of the past eight (8) years.
By asfdgieur
June 4, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this
I think Obama would be making a huge mistake to give the nod to Hillary. He needs someone who has the same appeal without the baggage. He does not want to go from continually having to separate himself from his associations to continually having to disavow Bill’s angry outbursts. He should not have to be in a continual power struggle within his own administration and that WILL happen.
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this
Jay, its called Cox enterprises, not Cox family….and the story was in the WSJ, not the WaPo, my mistake….would WashingBUT be more acceptable? I’m just trying to meet the local standard of decency here…
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
Hmm, it seems George was mistaken, the washington post company is not owned by Cox enterprises after all….The Company owns The Washington Post; Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), the online publishing subsidiary whose flagship products include washingtonpost.com, Newsweek.com, Slate, BudgetTravel.com and Sprig.com; Express; El Tiempo Latino; The Gazette and Southern Maryland newspapers; The Herald (Everett, WA); Newsweek magazine; Post-Newsweek Stations (Detroit, Houston, Miami, Orlando, San Antonio and Jacksonville); Cable ONE, serving subscribers in midwestern, western and southern states; and CourseAdvisor, an online lead generation provider.
The Company also owns Kaplan, Inc., a
By Mark Bittner
June 4, 2008 9:18 AM | Link to this
George,
Cox Enterprises is a private company owned by the Cox family.
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 9:22 AM | Link to this
George is soooo embarassed, he just might go chop down a few of those cherry tree’s down macon way….
By Jack
June 4, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this
Jay,
On the night in November when Obama wins the election, do you think Jim Wooten’s head will spontaneously explode?
By Redneck Convert
June 4, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this
Well, before Obama picks out Hillary for vice president, he might better think about how ol’ Vince Foster wound up. With her being a heartbeat away from what she wants most in the world, she’ll be thinking about nothing but his heart stopping.
By MP
June 4, 2008 9:32 AM | Link to this
Hillary should switch parties as she has proven to be more Republican in her words and actions. If Obama were to select her she would put all of her energy(as would Bill)into doing “something” to move her into the number one spot and she is NOT above doing “whatever it takes”. She said so herself. She cannot be trusted with his life or ours.
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 9:32 AM | Link to this
You know, if Hillary couldn’t even run a political campaign, how does she think she can run a nation of 300 million people? I bet even she does not know the difference between the Cox family and the Graham family…where are those cherry tree’s…ah gots the urge….
By maz hess
June 4, 2008 9:32 AM | Link to this
If kennedy wouldn’t have chosen johnson as vp he probably would be still alive today. So don’t ask barack to take Hillary as his vp.
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 9:39 AM | Link to this
maz hess - George agrees fully, Hillary should be placed under house arrest immediately, along with Bill, with no contact with the outside allowed until, say, 2020 at the earliest….
By Matthew
June 4, 2008 9:39 AM | Link to this
Jan. 20, 2009: End of an “error”
Jan. 21, 2009: End of enterprise economics.
Can’t wait!
By hsf
June 4, 2008 9:44 AM | Link to this
Richardson would be the smart choice. Hillary would be a disaster.
By rosemary
June 4, 2008 9:45 AM | Link to this
Hi Jay.. like many Obama supporters I cringe at the thought of Hillary being Vice President.. it would seem a backward step to me. It is a tricky situation.. I think he will have to tempt her with something else , She has to be the one seen to turn the VP offer down. to save face and keep those Clinton fans happy. I can’t work with her as VP.. It is a dreadful thought .
By JRI
June 4, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this
how about whoopi goldberg for vice president? She would solidify the Jewish vote.
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 10:15 AM | Link to this
Sam Nunn would fit very nicely onto Obama’s ticket…foreign policy problem solved, Georgia delivered in November, and another man of honor and integrity on the ticket, what more could you ask for in a running mate…
By BDAtlanta
June 4, 2008 10:21 AM | Link to this
He chose the team that got him this far so he will choose correctly when the time comes.
I don’t care who it is as long as he/she helps get Obama into the White House.
By hillbilly ragger
June 4, 2008 10:46 AM | Link to this
GW @ 10:15, Nunn is 70 years old, and is best known (if he’s remembered at all, these days) among the Democratic base as the guy who saddled us with the stupid “don’t ask/don’t tell” policy.
If anyone’s going to deliver GA to Obama, it’s Bob Barr.
Having written this, I honestly don’t know who Obama should pick. I lean toward Kathleen Sibileus, although I hear she’s not exactly an electrifying orator.
By Skeptic Tank
June 4, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this
I agree with the choice of Sam Nunn, though he has indicated he would not take the position if offered. Governor Sebelius of Kansas would help offset some of the trauma of losing the first viable female candidate for the Presidency, though she is not well-known outside her region. The most CRITICAL thing, though, is NOT to add Mrs. Clinton to the ticket. She carries enough baggage to bring down a 747. It IS time for change in Washington…and that means Hillary is YESTERDAY’S news.
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 10:56 AM | Link to this
hillbilly ragger - Yes, but Nunn is still younger than McInsane….and don’t ask worked….What ever happened to our Rapid Deployment Force? It was the main buzz word of the pentagoons for years, but not a peep in the last couple years….Ah guess’s they were replaced by a single F-22…what a joke that is….there is a narrow range of radar frequencies that completely illuminate the F-22 to radar, and Ivan and Cho know those frequencies…So much for the invisible fighter….
By lew
June 4, 2008 10:59 AM | Link to this
Kathleen Sibileus? Good choice! Female - middle America - no baggage.
By JeremiahWright
June 4, 2008 11:14 AM | Link to this
My posts are gone too. Looks like ol’ Jay has resorted to the fascist, censorship approaches that the far left usually claims to rail against. Of course, they never accept speech or writing that is contrary to theirs.
By hillbilly ragger
June 4, 2008 11:21 AM | Link to this
GW, “don’t ask worked” only if you think that discharging hundreds of patriotic men and women over their sexual orientation, at a time when a solid vast majority of Americans no longer believe that gays should experience employment discrimination, is justifiable.
Me, as just a plain ol’ run of the mill (and hetero) taxpayer, I think it’s an anachronism, and it never should’ve been adopted.
By Joe in PA
June 4, 2008 11:24 AM | Link to this
It’s tough call of Veep candidates. Hillary is a disaster for a wide variety of reasons. I’m not sure if choosing a women just to sway the Hillary voters will work. Sibileus is supposedly on the list as is AZ’s governor.
I would go for Richardson personally - a former Gov, strong on foreign policy, and may help bring the Hispanic vote back into the fold (although I don’t think they will generally go McCain over Obama regardless). I also like Warner when he was an early candidate and he should help deliver VA a good sized battleground state this cycle and would strengthen Obama on the economy - possibly the biggest election issue this year.
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this
Right Jeremiah, give them liberals a little power, and it goes to their heads….in the interests of purity, no bad words will be allowed…the Right wingers are more tolerant, woodenhead permits my washingA… made up word in full….
By hillbilly ragger
June 4, 2008 11:26 AM | Link to this
JRI @ 10:04, odds are Obama will win with ~75% of the Jewish vote, as is commonplace for modern Democratic Presidential candidates, with or without help from VP Whoopi.
Any hope that McCain ever had of changing this certainty died when he inexplicable started embracing right-wing End Times whackjobs like Parsley and Hagee.
You might not have noticed, but most American Jews a) are liberal, and b) don’t cotton to folks who fantasize about throwin’ infidels into a burning pit during the Rapture.
By hillbilly ragger
June 4, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this
Should we start a pool and wager on when Gramps McCain slips up and drops his first on-mic “N”-bomb?
I’m thinking about thirty-three minutes into the first televised debate. You?
By Jana
June 4, 2008 12:37 PM | Link to this
To George Washington. I think you have blogged enough for one day. Your rhetoric is not amusing and your illiterate ramblings are boring. Don’t you have somewhere to park your carcass, away from the computer?
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this
hillbilly ragger - I thought don’t ask allow gays to stay as long as they did not tell, and kept their sex lives private….they can serve in the military all they want as far as george is concerned, just so they don’t touch george on the but….
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 1:17 PM | Link to this
jana, now u have hurt george’s feelings, illiterate my but……was that don’t ask or don’t (this is gonna git me in trouble) As…. s?
By George Washington
June 4, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
George’s wife just informed him that her maternal grandfather’s last name was Graham…oh, we could be in the money….of Boston….come to pappa
By joe h
June 4, 2008 10:35 PM | Link to this
IF OBAMA GETS ELECTED WE HAD BETTER GET READY TO FIGHT THE MUSLIM EXSTREMIST HERE.I COULD BE WRONG BUT I DON’T THINK I AM.I THINK HE IS THE FALSE PROPHET OR LEADER THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF.WHAT ARE YOU SISSY LIBERALS GOING TO DO THEN? I KNOW WHAT YOU WILL DO. YOU WILL CRY FOR THE PEOPLE THAT TRULY LOVE AMERICA TO PROTECT YOU. AMERICA LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT.
By Copyleft
June 5, 2008 7:47 AM | Link to this
Thanks for illustrating why the Republicans have lost touch with the people and are losing ground on all fronts, Joe.
By Whit Payne
June 5, 2008 7:51 AM | Link to this
Serious mistake if obama picks Senator Clinton as that choice flys in the face of “change”. If he does, its a guaranteed victory for McCain.