HILLARY'S VEEPSTAKES

NY Post ^ | 12/17/66 | Dick Morris

[William McKinley]

December 17, 2003 -- ESPECIALLY now that the capture of Saddam Hussein could turn the Iraq war into a positive for George Bush, Howard Dean may turn to Hillary Rodham Clinton to be his vice presidential candidate. And, especially now that Al Gore has un-retired, Hillary might just accept.

[William McKinley]

I had supposed that this might happen, although for different reasons (by design rather than necessity).

Now that Dick Morris has suggested it, I am sure I was wrong and it will not happen.

[billorites]

Head of the ticket or number two:

Hillary would mobilize the negative vote like no one else could.

[MoralSense]

LBJ: "Better to have 'em inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in."

On the other hand, I wouldn't want Hillary anywhere NEAR me if I were making a run for the Presidency. And that includes imagining myself as a wild-eyed Democrat like Dean.

[HarryCaul]

Heh heh. Well, the Morris endorsement of the idea does make it seem less likely...

But I think a Dean/Clinton ticket would have a decent shot at winning the general election, and pretty much any other ticket you could name does not. That alone might be enough to make it happen.

[Rummyfan]

Her Heinous would never take the VP lot. Never!

[Rummyfan]

Make that: Her Heinous would never take the VP slot. Never!

[chainsaw]

It might end up with Dean running as VP with Hillary.

[samtheman]

Both theories make sense. The arguments against it are: 1) even though it will be Dean's defeat, it's still a certain defeat she'd be signing on to participate in, 2) her "broken promise" of staying in the Senate could haunt her in 2008.

I think the VP slot will be tempting for the Hildabeast, but she'll opt out.

[Pietro]

I've been saying all along that the beast will run as VP in '04 to set herself up for '08.

It's gonna happen.

[Caipirabob]

Can she do like Leiberman and still run while maintaining her seat in the senate?

[William McKinley]

I think the 1) is mitigated though. Notice how on defense and security issues, she has come out way to the right of Dean. If there is an electoral debacle, she can come out and say that the failure happened because he didn't listen to her on the most important issues.

And 2) doesn't sway me because I have seen no evidence that broken promises ever haunt the Clintons, and I have seen little evidence that the public actually expects her to live up to her promise.

[samtheman]

Sure she can keep her seat and run, but by running she's saying, "I'm willing to give up my seat if Dean and I win."

It's still a broken promise.

[Ed_in_NJ]

Howie ain't that dumb -- on the extremely slight possibility that he won, he'd have to walk around for the next four years wondering when he was going to commit Arkancide.

[samtheman]

You might be right. I don't pretend to be able to imagine what goes on inside the "mind" of a Hildabeast.

Here's a question: If this does happen, will it help Dean in the general election? The presumption is that it will. But I'm not so sure.

[William McKinley]

LOL Like I can fathom what she thinks. I have a better grip on what goes through the mind of an insane alzheimer's afflicted rabid pit bull on acid.

I don't know if it would help him or not. It would solidify the Democrats and help their turnout. It would also solidify the Republicans and help their turnout. I am not sure how it would play with the 'mushy middle', which everyone thinks wins elections but usually does NOT (usually turnout of the core does) but in such a case might actually be the decisive element. Plus, more important is how it would impact individual states, and I have no clue of that.

[IndyTiger]

Yes, from Dean's point of view, how would Hillary as VP help him? A Hillary VP nomination would energize Republicans like nothing else, and might end up costing Dean more votes than he would gain with her.

[samtheman]

You have to think that Dean would want a Southern conservative. If he can get one.

[thoughtomator]

Dean may be naive, but I can't believe even he is THAT naive. His life expectancy, should he win with Hillary as VP, would be measured in microseconds.

[You Dirty Rats]

Morris is nuts.

Shrillary will be caught in the Oval Office going Monica on Dubya before she would consent to being Dean's running mate.

[thesummerwind]

I wouldn't want Hillary anywhere NEAR me if I were making a run for the Presidency.

If they run together, with her as VP, about 9 nonths after his inauguration he'll go down in a mysterious plane crash.

Who would run with her?