Anna Quindlen, in a similar vein in a July 23, 2007 Newsweek column, suggested that Hillary should put Obama on the ticket as VP.
So, I started to think about variations permutations and whether or not they would work:
1. Clinton/Edwards or Obama/Edwards
No. Elizabeth has cancer. I don't think either she or her husband would be willing to commit the time and energy needed to campaign, let alone serve, for 2nd place.
2. Edwards/Clinton or Obama/Clinton.
Here again, I don't think there's any way that Hillary would take 2nd place, and I don't think either Edwards or Obama would offer it. Why? Well, a cynic might say that Hillary was already 2nd for 8 years and isn't likely to go through that again. But I think the main reason is Bill. Neither Edwards nor Obama would, I think, rationally want as husband of the VP a former President, especially one as popular as Bill.
3. Clinton/Edwards
I think this would work as a ticket except for the point I made above about Elizabeth Edwards. Also, I suspect that being second on the ticket last time probably irked Edwards a lot, and I don't think he'd want to be in that position again.
4. Clinton/Obama
Advantages:
- breaks two barriers at once;
- combines, as one characterization of the two goes, prose and poetry;
- would drive Matthews and Sully insane.
Disadvantages:
- breaks two barriers at once. Americans might be ready to vote for a woman or for an African-American, but would it be expecting too much of them to vote for both at once?
- egos: a few months back, I think Obama might have accepted second place, but the campaign has gotten nasty in the past weeks. I think it is the fault of the media for pushing Obama to attack Hillary; others will say that Hillary started the attacks. In either case, I fear the damage is done.
And I think that is a shame because a Clinton/Obama ticket would be the most audacious ticket in history.
