Barack Obama has finally clinched the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States of America.
About damn time.
So what next? Well, obviously Obama needs to get ready for the general election in November against John McCain and whomever he picks as his VP (right now, my money’s on Bobby Jindal). In the meantime, he needs to get Hillary offically out of the way.
I’m not entirely sure why she didn’t drop out on Tuesday night. If you go to CNN’s delegate calculator and assign all the remaining super delegates to her, she still doesn’t get enough to even reach 2118 delegates, much less overtake Obama’s totals.
I’m 90% sure she’s trying to get the VP nomination, but doesn’t want to go to Obama asking for it; she wants him to ask her. I think she’d be a great VP candidate, and in my ideal world she would be his choice (a good second choice would be John Edwards or Bill Richardson, though I’d much rather see Richardson running the State Deparment. I think he would be excellent there).
Why do I think Hillary would be a good choice for the VP slot? Well, she brings lots of baggage, sure, but she also brings lots of money, a large base of support, and great campaigning ability in the form of herself and Bill Clinton. She’s said, of course, that she’ll support and campaign for whomever the nominee is, but I think it would help provide more motivation if she were on the ticket with Obama.
I guess we’ll find out soon enough. If she goes past Friday night and still is making noises about how she’s going to continue to try to be the nominee, then I’ll lose virtually all respect for her. It’s long past time for her to drop out, and now that the numbers are completely against her, she needs to do so. All she’s doing by staying in now is shooting herself in the foot and destroying any good will she still has with the party.
June 5, 2008 at 1:44 am
And so now we have the major networks saying Hillary will indeed be out of the race by Friday night. About damn time!
June 5, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I would prefer Obama not select Hillary as running mate.
First of all, I don’t think their styles or goals are compatible. He really has a focus and a track record of building consensus and creating cohesion. Her style is more confrontational and divisive.
Second, I believe she would have difficulty being the No. 2 to a president — she’s already been there / done that. Given her very strong personality, I don’t think she could concede control to someone else.
Finally — what about Bill? If she were VP, would he try to somehow play a role or would he drag her down?
Sure, she’s smart and savvy, but I think she’s better off staying in the Senate, where she can do a lot of good.
June 6, 2008 at 2:39 am
Well, whom else would you put forth for the VP? I’ve seen at least some people who would like Joe Bidden, and I think he might be a fine choice.