WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Close-in supporters of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign are convinced he never will offer the vice presidential nomination to Sen. Hillary Clinton for one overriding reason: Michelle Obama. The Democratic front-runner's wife did not comment on other rival candidates for the party's nomination, but she has been sniping at Clinton since last summer. According to Obama sources, those public utterances do not reveal the extent of her hostility. A footnote: Support is growing in Democratic ranks for Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland as vice president. He would bring to the ticket maturity (66 years old), experience (six terms in Congress) and moderation (rated "A" by the National Rifle Association). He is very popular in Ohio, a state Republicans must carry to elect a president.
There was a time when I would have been thrilled with the idea of Sen. Hillary Clinton being on the Democratic ticket as the VP candidate. Then she went and launched her "scorched earth" campaign that made it clear her ONLY concern was with winning the Democratic nomination. Now I find myself hoping and praying that Sen. Barack Obama isn't dumb enough to forgive her trespasses for the sake of political expediency and victory in November. Sure, one could argue that Sen. Obama could demonstrate himself to be the bigger person by welcoming Clinton onto the Democratic ticket, but what possible edge there might be to be gained by this escapes me. HRC has been a 24-carat bitch ever since her "inevitability" disappeared like the money in her campaign's coffers. Why in the world would- and should- Sen. Obama reward her childishness and petulance? HRC has proven repeatedly that she only cares about one thing- her own self-aggrandizement. After all, the "greater good" is for losers, no?
In purely demographic terms, Clinton adds nothing to the ticket. New York will go for Obama in November, so it's not as if she's going to have the added appeal of being able to swing her home state into the Democratic column. Ted Strickland, though, is beginning to make sense. A less abrasive and high-maintenance personality than HRC, Strickland has the advantage of being the Governor of Ohio, a state that Democrats really must win in order to take back the White House. Surely, Sen. Obama can do far better than to recycle HRC and thus validate her show-no-mercy-take-no-prisoners-kill-'em-all-let-God-sort-'em-out campaign.
Hell, WE DESERVE BETTER.
I'm not at all certain how much truth there is to the idea that Michelle Obama has turned thumbs down on the idea of HRC as VP. I certainly hope this is the case, because frankly, her husband could (and by all rights, should) do a whole lot better. HRC's surliness and self-absorbed piggishness aside, installing her on the Democratic ticket would at this point do little to increase Sen. Obama's electability. She's burned so many bridges at this point that what once seemed a "dream ticket" is looking pretty nightmarish.
If I were Ms. Obama, I'd be telling HRC to pound sand, but then I tend not to forgive self-absorbed, egocentric self-interest very quickly. Were it up to me, HRC wouldn't be running for so much as Westminster City Dog Catcher. I think this would be a good time for her to spend and extended period of time wandering in the political wilderness and reaping what she's sown over the past few months.
