An Obama-Clinton Ticket?

It sounds like a dream ticket, really: Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton. A person of color and a woman. You would think this would be a liberal's dream, a Democratic Party miracle. And it could happen. Neither or them are stupid and both could benefit from joining forces with the other.

I do not think Clinton would accept; but she might.

And they would lose. Perhaps by a landslide.

I prefer Obama over Clinton, because he is not yet tainted by the Presidency. Clinton is already in-with-the-in-crowd, as all First Families are. Once you are in that club, you are never kicked out.

Hillary Clinton is a member of a very special, very powerful, very exclusive club that has many members, and enjoys power undreamed by most human beings. There are privileges and business opportunities afforded members of this club that even the wealthiest human will never enjoy. Besides Mrs. Clinton, her husband President Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea, the members of the First Family Club include John Sheldon David Doud Eisenhower, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, Luci Baines Johnson, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Tricia Nixon Cox, Betty Ford, Michael Ford, Jack Ford, Steven Ford, Susan Ford Bales (nee Vance), Rosalynn Carter, Jack Carter, Chip Carter, Jeff Carter, Amy Carter, Nancy Reagan, Maureen Reagan, Michael Reagan, Patti Davis, Ron Reagan, Jr., George H. W. Bush, Barbara Bush, Jeb Bush, Neil Bush, Marvin Bush, Dorothy Bush Koch, President George W Bush, Laura Bush, Jenna Bush and Barbara Bush. When you read them individually, it sounds like a lot of people, but when you see how small a number that really is, you begin to realize that this is an exclusive group of people with access we will never know.

I believe this is a group of people who have been, generally, corrupted by power. The only people I would feel comfortable saying are people of integrity are Caroline Kennedy, and Jimmy and Ros Carter. Most of the rest of the group are unknown and the ones we do know about are folks I don't much care for.

I loved that Steve Ford invited Rod Stewart to the White House in the mid-seventies. It was an amusing story at the time.

The Clintons are members of this club that I hold in the same regard as the Bush family. Not a very high regard.

I believe that the only reason Hillary Clinton holds any elected office and has any chance at being elected President is because she was married to Bill Clinton. One might argue that she played an instrumental role in his becoming president, and I would never argue against that point. However, she would not be a Senator from New York if she hadn't been a member of a First Family, would not be a candidate for presidential nomination if she wasn't powerful within the Democratic Party, and would not have that power if she and Bill had not undermined the DNC with creation of the Democratic Leadership Committee (DLC).

It's no secret that I neither like nor trust Hillary Clinton. And it is because of the connections she has made as a member of the First Family Club that I think she should be shunned by Democrats across the country. She is the embodiment of the notion that "power corrupts."

Do I think Barack Obama is more qualified to be President? No. Nor do I think he is less qualified. I do know that he is not a member of the Former First Family Club so I believe his corruption is minuscule when compared to any Bush, Clinton, or Nixon. He is not a member of America's ruling elite. Clinton is.

So, Obama would probably benefit from having Clinton on the ticket, but they will lose.

Obama supporters are people who will vote for the Democratic nominee, whoever she is. Clinton supporters include Reagan Democrats and the so called "working-class," and they have stated again and again that race is an issue for them. There is no way a Reagan Democrat or a white working-class person is going to vote for a Black man. It just isn't going to happen.

So, although the majority of Democrats prefer Obama to Clinton, the racist arm of the Democratic Party (those who voted for Reagan and Bush II) will not support a black candidate. So, although registered Democrats far outnumber registered Republicans in the United States, the number of racist Democrats when combined with the number of registered Republicans far outnumbers open-minded, progressive Democrats. I fear that John McCain will be the next President, not because Democrats want to vote for a Republican, but because racists will not vote for Obama.

I am happy to be wrong about this.

Obama - ask Hillary first
by Thom Hartmann

The issue at hand for the Democratic Party for winning in ‘08 is not losing to McCain but losing to a divided Democratic party. The first thing Obama should do if nominated is put Hillary on the ticket. Will the Republicans have a field day with her on the ticket? Yes! Is their some bad blood in the water due to some negative campaign strategies on the part of the Clintons? Probably. Can Hillary be a tough fighter able to play tough allowing Obama to stay higher above the fray? Yes!

Howard Dean said a few months ago that the loser will be the most important person in the Democratic presidential run this year. Hillary's legacy in this 08 election could place her as the healer and bring together a united Democratic party. As a winning ticket they also move this country closer to healing the racial and misogynist undertones that still have roots. Can you picture Denver with Hillary's delegates close to half of all delegates demanding that she be included on the ticket? To some it's a crusade. If Hillary was the one out ahead - by just a little over half - wouldn't Obama supporters want the same? Obama's offer and Hillary's acceptance of an Obama/Clinton ticket hold the healing and the power to move this country in the direction of the real change in Washington that Obama talks about. First he must bring the Democrats back together again. Obama - ask Hillary first, by Thom Hartmann