Clinton-Obama ’08—“No Thank You”

The latest strategy of the Clinton camp is to make voters think that a vote for Hillary Clinton will also be a vote for Barack Obama. How? By pairing the two on one ticket—with her at the top of the ticket, of course.

If the Democratic voters—particularly those who are trying to decide between the two candidates—believe that by voting for Hillary they’ll get Obama too, they just might give her their vote. Surely a joint-ticket will strengthen the party and pretty much assure victory in November.

Bill Clinton called a possible joint ticket “an almost unstoppable force.” The day after the February 5th Super Tuesday contests, Democratic National Chair Howard Dean stated that if neither has enough pledged delegates to clinch the nomination, the DNC would have to “get the candidates together to make some kind of an arrangement.” Do you mean like an arranged political marriage between Clinton and Obama?

The Clinton camp may like the idea of a Clinton-Obama ticket, but they would have to get over two very big hurdles:
1) Obama is running for President—not Vice President
2) Obama happens to have won more pledged delegates, more popular votes, more states and more primary contests than Clinton

Fortunately, Obama put this dialogue to rest when he replied by saying, “You won't see me as a vice presidential candidate. I'm running for president."

So here we have typical Hillary, at it again—essentially saying, “Vote for me, and I’ll give you Obama too.” She suggested it. If it doesn’t happen, Obama will look like the bad guy—the poor Democratic sport—for spoiling the “dream ticket.”

But let’s be honest—these two don’t really, genuinely get along do they? For Clinton, Obama is a pawn in her political game of chess—a means to an end. Her aim is the White House. If that means Obama has to tag along, so be it.

The problem is, Obama’s not running to be somebody’s “yes man.” He’s running to be “the man.” I’m sorry, I know many Democrats would love to see them both on one ticket, but four to eight years with Hillary, Bill and Barack (in that order) at the helm, would be a total nightmare—not a dream. I mean, can you imagine Hillary, Bill and Barack racing each other to answer that 3AM phone call? Nightmare!

And let’s be honest, it would be a particularly intense nightmare for Barack Obama—number three on the totem pole. Do Obama’s supporters really want to put him through that kind of torture?

If you want Obama for President, follow his lead. Obama answered a decisive “no” to the idea of a joint-ticket. His supporters should fall in line.

Clinton-Obama ’08? “No thank you.”