John Edwards makes a Shermanesque statement about the VP slot:

John Edwards has ruled out being Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket, according to interviews carried by two leading Spanish newspapers on Friday. "I already had the privilege of running for vice president in 2004, and I won't do it again," Edwards was quoted by El Mundo as saying. El Pais, the country's other leading daily, carried similar comments.

Well, that is one less person who has to go through the vetting process.

By Big Tent Democrat

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are meeting tonight according to news reports.

I have nothing to add to that. I will not pretend to know what is going on beyond that. If you want to see folks pretend to know, turn on the TV.

Oh, and the Lakers are going to beat the Celtics. Too athletic for them.

Funny how they got the story wrong. NOT at Hillary's house. I love how they pretend to know anything/

It's become sort of an Open Thread.

By Big Tent Democrat

Hillary Clinton's spokesman, Howard Wolfson, sent out this message today:

"While Senator Clinton has made clear throughout this process that she will do whatever she can to elect a Democrat to the White House, she is not seeking the vice presidency, and no one speaks for her but her. The choice here is Senator Obama's and his alone."

As I've opined several times, if Hillary doesn't want the Vice-Presidency, we should honor her wishes. BTD believes Obama has a better chance of winning if Hillary is the nominee. That's one consideration, but it's not the only one.

I believe Obama needs to win the White House on his own, with support from those who believe he's the best choice for the country. While I believe he's a far better choice than John McCain, I don't believe we should force Hillary into thinking she owes it to him or the party to be on his ticket. She's given enough.

Comments closed

You have all heard a lot about Obama's Appalachia Problem? That's the Obama supporter theory anyway. Well, if you want to solve it, apparently the way to solve it is to put Hillary Clinton on the ticket. Or so sez SUSA's Kentucky polling:

21% of Clinton supporters today say they will support Obama; 20% say they will support McCain. Another 21% say they will support a different candidate or no candidate at all; 37% say it's impossible to say until they know who both vice presidential candidates would be. Should Obama choose Clinton as his running mate, 57% of Clinton supporters say they will back Obama; 13% would back McCain. If Obama chooses John Edwards, 28% would back Obama; 13% McCain. Should Obama choose a woman other than Hillary Clinton as his running mate, McCain picks up more support from current Clinton backers -- 28% go with McCain, and 21% with Obama.

SUSA's general preference polling indicated that 36% of Kentucky voters prefer Clinton (37% go for McCain, 22% for Obama). Doing the math, putting Clinton on the ticket makes Kentucky Obama/Clinton 43, McCain 42. Obama could win Kentucky if he picks Clinton. KENTUCKY! The heart of Appalachia. These numbers are hard to ignore.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only.

Obama can choose to not maximize his chances of winning in November if he does not choose Hillary Clinton as his Vice President. And that will be his choice and his responsibility. I wrote a post that discussed making professional choices when you are running for President. Obama needs to be a professional about this. And a professional would see that Hillary Clinton is clearly his best choice for VP, as this Gallup poll demonstrates:

Obama 45
McCain 45

Obama/Clinton 50
McCain 45

The Hillary Haters in the Media and the blogs will pretend not to notice this data. But they MAY have to notice in November if Obama loses a close election.

It's on now. He's talking about change.

Reactions?

Update: Soundbite from the speech: "My two daughters see themselves differently because Hillary ran for President."

Just in from the Clinton campaign:

"Senator Clinton will be hosting an event in Washington, DC to thank her supporters and express her support for Senator Obama and party unity. This event will be held on Saturday to accommodate more of Senator Clinton's supporters who want to attend."

I understand the notion that the nominee must have the freedom to choose a nominee he is comfortable but there is a certain reality that is just being ignored about this contest. Obama barely won. By any measure. Even by the flawed pledged delegate count, and including the Edwards delegates, Obama won 51.4% of the pledged delegates. Clinton won 47.7% of the pledged delegates. On the popular vote, by the BEST measure for Obama, he won by 0.4%. This was NOT a landslide.

As Jay Cost writes:

The New York Times reports Hillary Clinton will drop out of the Presidential race on Friday.

This Times report says she will both drop out and endorse Barack Obama.

If Hillary drops out and endorses Obama, I will do the same. I think it will be what she wants her supporters to do.

There was never any question whether I would support the ultimate Democratic nominee. I always said I would. With only one candidate in the race, Obama is the nominee -- on Friday.

Comments closed

According to a new CBS poll:

A majority of Democratic primary voters - 59 percent - say Obama should choose Clinton as his running mate. Clinton supporters are more enthusiastic about the prospect than Obama supporters, who are evenly split on the question of Clinton as a vice presidential pick.

By Big Tent Democrat

I have been thinking about the strategy Hillary Clinton has adopted in light of the declaration that Barack Obama is the Presidential nominee. I think it does mean she wants to be the Vice Presidential nominee. Let me explain my thinking.

Clinton has kept her supporters committed to her by demonstrating her fire and toughness - her commitment to playing the political game on her terms. I have stated my own preference that she take a more conciliatory tack and acknowledge what seems to be. But let's face it, the Media and her enemies were ready to dance on her political grave and declare her an irrelevancy. In order to put herself in play for VP, against seeming resistance from Obama's circle and the Media, she needed to flex her political muscles.

More . . .

Sen. Barack Obama's Vice-Presidential selection team is now in place. It includes Former Deputy U.S. Attorney Eric Holder, Caroline Kennedy and "Democratic insider" Jim Johnson.

Obama said today he'd be speaking with Hillary over the next few weeks, but didn't mention whether the VP slot would be one of the topics.

CNN asks, can he afford not to offer her the position if she wants it? I don't know if she wants it or not. If she wants it, I'm all for her having it.

What happens if it's disclosed she wanted it and wasn't offered it? I imagine many of her 18 million supporters would be quite displeased.

Do her supporters have options other than sitting out the election or switching to Obama or McCain? [More...]