Posted on 05/07/2008 1:49:01 PM PDT by The_Republican
The NOTION THAT BARACK Obama should pick Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate is crazy. She passes the first test of a veep selection: she's a plausible president. But she fails the second. She doesn't qualify as a partner on the Democratic ticket (and possibly in the White House) that Obama would be comfortable with--far from it.
But there is someone who does meet these two requirements, plus a third one and maybe a fourth. That person is Democratic Governor Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania. Yes, Rendell was the leading supporter of Clinton when she trounced Obama in the Pennsylvania presidential primary last month. But he's a smart, tough, and respected politician who would no doubt embrace Obama eagerly, fully, and loyally.
Now that Obama has all but locked up the presidential nomination with his landslide victory in North Carolina and narrow loss in Indiana on Tuesday, pressure is building for Clinton to drop out of the race and, when the time comes, emerge as Obama's running mate on a Democratic dream ticket.
In truth, this would be a nightmare ticket, both dysfunctional and illogical. Opposites usually don't mesh in politics. Sure, LBJ helped JFK win the presidency in 1960. But Clinton isn't LBJ. Rendell comes closer to the LBJ model.
What would Rendell, 64, bring to the ticket? As governor of a major state, he's automatically a national political figure. He's also a former general chairman of the Democratic national committee, which means he's a party man who gets along with Democrats of all types. Though he backed Clinton, he's not identified with any Democratic faction or constituency group.
So it doesn't take a flight of fancy to imagine Vice President Rendell's functioning effectively with President Obama. It does in Clinton's case. Rather than defer easily to Obama, Vice President Clinton would be the ambitious leader of a rival camp. Harmony would not prevail in the White House.
There would also be the Bill problem. Her husband, former president Bill Clinton, would be her chief adviser, strategist, and co-conspirator. He'd probably move back to Washington and reside in the Admiralty House, the vice presidential mansion. It would become Clinton headquarters, a safe house for members of the Clinton diaspora.
Obama should recall what he and everyone else learned (once again) from this year's presidential race: when Hillary and Bill get together, it's all about them and getting their way. The interests of other elected officials or politicians are secondary, if that.
More often than not, vice presidential running mates have little effect on the outcome of the general election. But they can sometimes bring their own state. Rendell would, just as LBJ brought Texas in 1960. He would assure that Obama wins Pennsylvania against Republican John McCain in the general election.
This is critical. A Democratic presidential nominee cannot win without capturing Pennsylvania. It's no more complicated than that. Obama starts from a weak position in the state. In losing the primary, he fared poorly among Catholics, working class women, and downscale white voters. Rendell would corral them for Obama, most of them anyway.
Even if Clinton aided the ticket in Pennsylvania, she clearly wouldn't help as much as Rendell. And she would detract in many states. The fact that at least half the country dislikes her--and has for years--is hardly a talking point in favor of selecting her as running mate.
She has another drawback that Rendell doesn't. Clinton is the leader of a large faction in the Democratic party. She wouldn't be dependent on the president for power and influence and a political future. That alone would guarantee disagreements and struggles between her and President Obama. The media would feast on this.
One final thing. A vice presidential case can be made for another Democratic governor, Ted Strickland of Ohio. Like Rendell, he's popular, a Clinton backer, and governor of an important state. But Strickland has been in office for less than two years. He might bring Ohio, but he's not a plausible president. LBJ was. So is Rendell.
Well, at least Obama and Rendell have some in common to start building a relationship with!
This analysis makes sense. Barry would be a fool to put Hillary on the ticket, he’d never know where the shot might come from.
Expect to see the film where Rendell suck up to Farrakhan to feature prominently in the campaign.
Pennsylvania Governor Rendell Praises Farrakhan and N.O.I.
Rendell is a total POS!
Thanks for posting that! I read about it by a Black Columnist from Philadephia right after PA primary!
I could see Hillary putting bananna peels on the White House steps. ;)
My money is on Weezily Clark.
It makes me sick. The display by Rendell was vile.
A marriage of convenience. Barry’s “news politics” marries the “machine politics” of which Democrats are notorious for.
The hatred that left wing liberals have for George Bush will look like a love feast when compared to conservatives who will soon seethe under the weight of a socialist president.
Make no mistake, Barracks Obama has grand ideas for this country even if it defies the Constitution.
But I don’t get why Fred Barnes is actually giving out good advice to Obama/Dems.
I hope he picks a Black Woman - like ex-mayor of San Francisco, Willie Brown said on CNN.
Rendell is tough SOB. He knows what to say and how to penetrate the skulls of lunch-bucket Democrats.
I certainly don’t want him to be on the ticket.
Our best hope is to flip PA and MI.
Rendell can really wreck that plan.
Barry is all smoke and mirrors. There is no substance and his only style is the color of his skin as Geraldine Ferraro pointed out. Ed Rendell is too old school and too pragmatic.Barry needs the white vote but particularly the white women's vote. He needs someone to get the white woman's vote. That could either be a white woman or the Democratic Breck girl, John Edwards.
Obama may regard Rendell as being too close to the Clintons to be an acceptable VP choice.
Fred Barnes should stick to handicapping Republican politics. Rendell doesn't get any more PA votes for Obama than he already will get. Obama & Rendell are both going to run strong in Philadelphia & surrounding counties plus Pittsburgh. Rendell is weak everywhere else. Obama can't win Pennsylvania even if he should pick Rendell.
Maybe if he goes with Rendell then McCain should run with Tom Ridge.
I suspect the wretched Gov Sebelius will be high on Obama’s list as well, and maybe Gov Richardson.
Crazy or not, I still think Hillary will be Obama’s VP, and I think they are going to stomp on McCain the same way Reagan stomped Carter.
Rendell? Fast Eddie Rendell? Yeah, that’s the ticket to new politics. That’s the way to change how Washington plays the game.
If Obama picks Evan Bayh you might as well stick a fork in the GOP forever.
Weakly Standard is RINO fish wrap.
Not necessarily. Having a local political hack on the ticket will help in getting that all important 120% turn-out in key democRat districts. Never underestimate the power of a local political hack to steal an election.
Kennedy would never have been elected President in 1960 without Johnson making sure that the Texas democRat machine cranked out enough fraudulent votes in South Texas to give Texas to Kennedy.
Obama’s got quite an uphill battle in Ohio no matter how you slice it. Strickland doesn’t seem like an Obama guy and I could be wrong; however, I don’t think it’s a winning combo. But then I run into someone who says they don’t care WHAT Obama’s done or said - they say ‘I just want to vote against Bush who has run this country into the ground’ or ‘I don’t want another Bush term’ or ‘anybody but a Bush or a Clinton’ - and I think ‘UH OH’.
I dunno.
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