Hug keeps dream ticket hopes alive

[TomClash]

Hug keeps dream ticket hopes alive


Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Saturday February 9, 2008
The Guardian


Officially, neither candidate has rejected a joint ticket.

Clinton's campaign manager, Terry McAuliffe, said he thought Obama would make a great vice-presidential running mate. "Absolutely. How could you deny consideration of someone who has excited so many people?" he told NY1 television.

But of course, it's not that simple. For a start, who would head the ticket, Clinton or Obama? Don't expect either candidate to surrender to a junior slot when each remains convinced they are winning, say Democratic campaigners.

"I think it may be too perfect to happen," said Jennifer Palmieri, who was with John Edwards' campaign until its demise last month. She added a caveat: what outsiders see as a dream ticket might not feel that way to the politicians involved.



Yet while that pairing got Bill Clinton to the White House, the vice-presidency was not the surefire path to the top job that Gore envisaged. "If you are in a position to some day be president, do you really want to throw in your hat with someone else's administration?" said Dean Spiliotes, a New Hampshire political scientist.

Which leads to the other big variable for a pair-up of the two candidates: Bill Clinton. "In both scenarios - Clinton-Obama and Obama-Clinton - it would come down to the role of Bill Clinton," said Michael McDonald, a political scientist at George Mason University. If Obama were the nominee, "he would essentially have two vice-presidents, Hillary and Bill". If Clinton emerged, Obama would have to decide whether he would want to compete for influence with a presidential spouse.

It is also too early for either Clinton or Obama to think about running mates. Picking a vice-president is one of the most important decisions for the nominee and right now Obama and Clinton are focused on winning.

"I just think the process needs to play itself out," said Michael Feldman, a former aide to Al Gore. "While the process may look like it's deadlocked a lot can happen between now and the last contest, and between the last contest and the convention."

In one scenario making the rounds, the candidates would indeed team up - but only to bury the idea of a dream ticket. The victor would offer their old opponent the job of vice-president, knowing it would be turned down. There would be hugs and reconciliation in party ranks - the happy ending that Democrats are craving.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/story/0,,2255014,00.html