Those of you who have followed my diaries know that I have been an Obama partisan since before he even announced. You also know that I have had anything but warm admiration for Hillary. Rather, I bitterly resented the way she pushed for the nomination weeks after she had no shot at it whatsoever.
Times have changed. Now, I am convinced that Obama should pick Hillary as his VP. She would be the best choice, bar none.
Why Hillary? Primarily, because Obama needs an attack dog on the ticket, someone who will tear the bark off McCain. Unfortunately, however, none of the proposed short-list candidates remotely fit that bill. In fact, they all seem to have a terminal case of teh nice. Kaine? Bayh? Sebelellius? As attack dogs, they're jokes.
Hillary, however, is now a world-class campaigner, and would have no problem playing the part of vicious attack dog. Moreover, no other choice would change the game as dramatically in Obama's favor. Her pick would dominate the news -- in a good way -- like no other. And people forget that she will put Arkansas solidly in Obama's column -- 6 critical electoral votes. Other than Bayh, no other top-tier VP pick can guarantee turning a red State blue. But with Hillary, Arkansas turns solid blue overnight.
Oh, she would also kick ass in the VP debate. That's important too. So, despite everything that happened in the past, I'm now, amazingly, hoping it's Hillary.
Update [2008-8-6 9:40:15 by pontificator]: Check out this from the Financial Times:
Obama officials say privately it is unlikely a running mate will be selected before the candidate returns from a week’s holiday in Hawaii, which starts this Friday. That leaves about 10 days until the start of the Democratic party convention in Denver.
In spite of ever more feverish speculation about who Mr Obama is likely to choose – Hillary Clinton having made a comeback in the past few days – the decision is unlikely to be leaked.