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Do the two Democrats still left standing owe each other the VP spot?
By Jim O | April 22, 2008
In his blog today, Jack Cafferty wrote:
The race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has gotten so nasty that it’s hard to imagine the two ever teaming up on a so-called “dream ticket.” But some Democrats are holding out hope for just that.
The New York Times reports how several high-profile Democrats, like Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, along with some of the uncommitted superdelegates think it’s a good idea. Their thinking is it would combine the voter bases of both and be a way to end the nomination race before the party’s convention in August.
Is this a rhetorical question, or a serious one? I don’t really know. Cafferty does make the argument that LBJ took the nod in 1960, as did Bush 41. If I recall correctly, there was even semi-serious talk of Gerald Ford running for VP with Reagan in 1980! If history is a guide, people can put aside their differences in order to win and politicians love to win. There are some major stumbling blocks to a Clinton-Obama political marriage.
First, if Obama is the nominee for President, Hillary has little to gain from it other than being seen as a team player. She probably would have more impact as a big state Senator than as Vice President. She is 60 years old and will be 61 prior to election day. If she runs for Vice President, and they win, she will be 68 going on 69 when her next real chance is likely to come up. Of course they could lose, however unlikely such a “dream ticket” is to lose, and then she might have a real shot in four years, at a more reasonable age of 64. Clearly her age has to be a factor in her decision.
Obama, who is as of this moment the front runner by a hair, may still not win the nomination. Accepting the nomination for Vice President would be much more palatable for him at least in terms of his relative youth. He turns 47 in August. Even if they serve eight years together, he will only be 54 when he seeks the presidential nomination in 2016. Of course if he wins the popular vote in the primaries, and has the greater number of elected delegates, as seems very likely at this point, the only way Hillary gets the nomination is through the so-called super delegates. That might be so distasteful to Obama that the idea of accepting a spot as number two on the ticket under such circumstances would seem slim.
Add into the equation the fact that Obama and Bill Clinton seem to really dislike each other on more than just a political level and I would be surprised to see it happen either way. But politics does make some strange bedfellows as they say…
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