Monday, March 10th, 2008...3:02 pm
Veep-Stakes!
Jump to Comments
Hillary Clinton and her supporters have been touting Barack Obama as her second. This makes some snicker given that Obama is ahead of her right now so the vice presidency isn’t exactly hers to give.
I’m thinking that it would be really bold for Mike Gravel to offer them both cabinet slots if they drop out now.
6 Comments
March 10th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Methinks she and Bill are a bit desperate. It’s sinking in right now that Obama has the inside track to the nomination.
The awful reality is staring them in the face that the mistakes that she made in triangulating to the right (NCLB, Patriot I, Patriot II, the bankrupcty bill, the Iraq war, the Iran resolution last year) have added up to the point where the Democratic nomination that they thought she’d have and took for granted, isn’t.
And they should have seen it coming. There is a reason why Joe Lieberman, who coming in as the previous VP nominee should have had the inside track in 2004, flopped miserably and finished fifth.
The supreme irony is that had Hillary voted more to the left during her time in the Senate, especially on military issues, she would not only very likely have the nomination today, but would be in a position to outflank John McCain on issues where frankly he (and she) are out of step with the majority of Americans. Instead she has handed that plum to Obama and she ain’t getting it back.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Then again–
Maybe Hillary will convince John McCain that if he drops out, she will nominate him for Secretary of Defense.
March 10th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
The adjective “Clintonesque” (in its most pejorative form) comes to mind when reading these stories. Keep in mind that Hillary was saying just a few days ago that she and McCain had the experience to be commander-in-chief, but Obama did not. Now she and her husband (the would-be co-president) are touting Obama as the man to be “a heartbeat away.” They are shameless hucksters trying to play the electorate as if we are all a bunch of suckers and rubes.
The incessant feuding between Penn, Grunwald and others in the Clinton camp, the narcissistic preening (or whining) that is part of any Bill Clinton speech, Hillary saying she is proud to be on a stage with Obama and then barking, “Shame on you!” at him the next day, her hollow and baseless claims of “35 years of experience.” All of these people and the incidents they spawn indicate what the general election would look and sound like if Democrats don’t pass on the Clinton Kool-Aid this time around.
Unless we are truly eager to see Rehnquist asking McCain to repeat the oath after him come January, we should all step back and consider what the Clintons are showing us when their backs are against the wall. It is not pretty and they are not going to attract enough independents or disgruntled Republicans to their torn and soiled standard. They are also demonstrating on a daily basis the wit and wisdom of Joe Klein when he once aptly referred to them as the Tom and Daisy Buchanan of American politics. Pick up The Great Gatsby if the literary analogy eludes you.
March 10th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Oops! I was so caught up in expressing my disdain for the Clintons that I forgot we have a different Chief Justice now. My apologies to John Roberts!
March 10th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
It would be interesting to see the change in Hillary’s “favorable” and “unfavorable” ratings amongst the Democrats over the past two weeks. She seems to forget that many people vote just as much for character as issue stances, and she is alienating many Democrats with her [and Bill’s] campaign that has been marked by hypocrisy, pretentiousness, dishonesty, and nastiness.
March 11th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Well said, Rex, but I had to look up “perjorative.”
The VP offer is just another tactical manuever in a sea of tactical manuevers that are devoid of a strategy. They appear to be almost random, as though the Clintons and their associates are willing to say whatever pops into their heads, knowing that anything they say will get media attention.
This time, however, they gave Obama a chance to point out that Hillary’s constant railing about his lack of experience conflicts with his being such an excellent choice for her VP. His response may also indicate that he would not accept the offer if Hillary were to win the nomination. I suspect he is as fed up with her as we are, but who knows?
Leave a Reply