Thursday, February 7, 2008

The dream ticket

The conventional wisdom is that the "dream ticket"--Hillary and Obama together--will never happen. Their view of one another after this brutal contest may not amount to outright loathing, but let's call it steady professional enmity.

Obama-Clinton won't happen. Clinton would never consent, and Obama would never offer. As previously argued, he needs a change figure (Webb! Webb!), ideally from a useful state.

But Clinton-Obama? The longer this process drags out, the more she needs him. To shun Obama--especially for a heartland dullard like Evan Bayh--would be to push away all the enthusiasm and new voters that he brings. In a battle for the center against John McCain, Hillary will need Obama's moderates.

Moreover, think of the surprise value of such a move. It would immediately trigger a wave of breathless coverage about the Democrats' unity (real or supposed). Of course, something would have to be worked out about Bill, for everyone's sake. Roving ambassador to the world?

Clearly Polprint is getting ahead of herself. Hillary is so short of cash that top staff are reportedly going without pay. Also, the spread-out nature of the rest of the contests plays to Obama's strength: he's better when he's had time to introduce himself to voters. But she is ahead in the delegate count. Polprint is not--what is the proper sports expression?--taking odds.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What about John Edwards as Obama's deputy? Is that a possibility?

Kate said...

Thank you for commenting! I don't think so. Edwards doesn't have enough public-service experience to act add heft to an Obama ticket--and Obama will need a VP who's a heavyweight--or at least a middleweight.

Also, part of the function of a VP is to deliver a state. Edwards failed in 2004: North Carolina went for Bush, not Kerry.