Hillary as VP? Not going to happen!

(Via Ben Smith)

Ted Kennedy joins Nancy Pelosi in nipping the "Hillary as VP" idea in the bud saying:

Obama should choose a running mate who "is in tune with his appeal for the nobler aspirations of the American people," Kennedy said. "If we had real leadership — as we do with Barack Obama — in the No. 2 spot as well, it'd be enormously helpful."

HA! First of all...that is a quite a shameless diss!

Secondly, I can assure you that this is precisely what Barack himself is thinking about. He has worked 7 days a week for 16 months. And he has seen Hillary pander on the gas tax, falsely accuse him of disenfranchising voters, recklesslesly assert that he "hasn't passed the Commander in chief threshold" while insisting he should be Vice president, threaten to obliterate Iran and generally behave without integrity.

I have no doubt that Barack dislikes her greatly. There is so much handwringing about him taking her as VP, but it would undermine his message of "Change" in such an extreme way that I can most certainly say, that he won't do it, he doesn't WANT to do it, and after all the hard work he's put into this campaigh, NO ONE is going to make him.

Unrelated to all that: Check out this great interview he did with Wolf Blitzer!

•  Nope...

  not gonna happen.  Good!!!!!! (enough exclamation marks?)

  by mayan on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:19:58 AM PDT

•  Tip jar!

  by jenontheshore on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:20:40 AM PDT

•  re

  Nice.

  Now let's put this Hill VP thing to rest.

  Nah.
  Gunna.
  Happin.

  by cookiesandmilk on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:20:48 AM PDT

•  Naming Hillary as his running mate would be like

  crawling into bed with a rabid cobra. (Well, I doubt cobra's get rabies, but in Hillary's case I'm certain the gods would make an exception.)

  by phrogge prince on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:25:21 AM PDT

•  I'll support him either way but hope you're right

  I could see it happening though.  This whole contest has had so many twists and turns...

  by Torta on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:28:23 AM PDT

•  Here's to hoping...

  that the Clintons and their remaining die-hards don't still try to threaten their way into the VP slot.  

  No, Clinton as VP wouldn't make any sense considering what the Obama campaign has been all about, but then again, logic has been M.I.A. in this primary for some time now.

  by webphantom on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:33:17 AM PDT

•  Obama will have the Obama presidency not

  the Obama/Clinton presidency.

  Obama will pick his running mate and no one will pick it for him.

  Kennedy decided he wanted Johnson and so has every other nominee in modern history.

  The only way Clinton is the running mate is if Obama asks her to be the running mate, and I don't think that is going to happen.

  Hillary is not the one we have been waiting for.

  by Sam Wise Gingy on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:35:15 AM PDT

  •  dont even offer it.

    never.  there are plenty of good options.  obama does not need clinton.

    by ratador on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:53:03 AM PDT

•  I don't really like Hillary

  after all that has happened.  I was indifferent to her before but now I really can't stand her.

  HOWEVER, my first and only goal is to see Obama as the next President of the United States of America.  AND if Hillary helps him get there as her VP then I will support that idea...I wouldn't be crazy about that idea, I wouldn't be excited about that idea but what the heck...I only want to see him as our next president.

  Take my comments for what they're...my personal feelings about this whole idea.  If you ask me who would be my favorite VP: #1 Kathleen Sibelius, #2 Chuck Hagel, #3 Powell.

  by ovelarde on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:36:05 AM PDT

•  She's put herself out of a-thing in the Obama WH

  This is part of my comment on teacherken's diary:

  After her "white voter" comments, yesterday I said I was done with her.  If she were to steal the nomination away from Obama, she is banking on Democrats fearing McCain more than their indignation and enmity towards her.

  She will be in effect asking/assuming/demanding Democrats vote against their conscience, their values and their own morality to vote for her - because hey, McCain is worse. (Many voters will legitimately ask "After this, is he really?)

  I don't think I could spend my vote that way, even with a strong clothes pin.

  A vote for her rewards this behavior.  What happens the next time a Democratic candidate doesn't get the nod and they think they are the heir apparent?  

  And how after this, this campaign of desperation and destruction can Obama give her ANYTHING within his cabinet?   Even if he doesn't offer her the VP slot, giving her anything within his cabinet UNDERMINES his position and makes a mockery of the Democratic Party core values.

  I can't understand why any candidate, Republican or Democrat would spend all their political capital this way.  The Clintons themselves have done a better job tarnishing their image than the Republicans ever could.

  Not many temper tantrums destroy a party or a people, or cause a civil war- this one might - and I may have to revise my sig line.

  I stand by it

  by Clytemnestra on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:42:04 AM PDT

•  The suggestion of HRC as VP strikes me as a

  naive, "We are the world" type of thing.  Obama should choose someone who is gonna help him win a couple of swing states and the election.  If he needs HRC to win in NY he's gonna lose anyway.  The two names I've heard which make the most sense from this POV are Webb and Nunn.  It's not about ideological purity, it's about winning the frikking election.

  by MajorFlaw on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:48:38 AM PDT

•  Ugh

  I can imagine Republicans having a field day with Bill's library donations if Hillary is the VP choice.

  by jim bow on Fri May 09, 2008 at 10:49:21 AM PDT

•  My take is..

  that picking HC for VP would be a worse sellout to DLC types for Barak supporters than the McGovern sellout to the machine politics (Daley/Rizzo) in picking Eagleton.  I have a feeling Teddy painfully remembers how unfortunate that turned out for anything remotely progressive.  

  by lzyltnin on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:13:25 AM PDT

•  What I am afraid of

  is that, in some way or another, he may be forced to offer it to her (and then pray that she will refuse). I hope not, I am absolutely appalled by the idea, but she may want the offer to very partially appease her very bruised ego, and I think there are many insiders that may see it as necessary for party unity. I hope that the likes of Pelosi, Kennedy, Kerry etc. will be forceful and powerful enough to counterbalance this pressure.

  by mangusta on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:22:40 AM PDT

  •  But really, who could force him

    to put her on his ticket? I don't think he owes anybody a big enough favor that he could be put in the position of "having" to choose HRC. I think HRC's own behavior has pissed off a lot of Democratic leaders and there is really no obvious benefit to plunking her on the ticket. I highly doubt that the majority of her supporters will vote McCain or stay home. This primary has been bitterly fought, but many primaries have been bitterly fought. Hell, I've worked on campaigns where I have backed the losing candidate and wondered whether or not I could vote for the Dem victor, and yet every time, I have healed my wounds and ended up backing the Dem candidate.

    by Jennifer Clare on Fri May 09, 2008 at 12:10:50 PM PDT

•  On the other hand...

  Barak offers (with some caveats.. like a restraining order keeping Bill at least a mile from the WH), HC accepts, Dems win and RFK Jr takes her Senate seat.  Caveats were 8% snark, but only the distance would be negotiable.  

  by lzyltnin on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:27:43 AM PDT

•  But Wolf forgot to ask

  about Rev. Wright! Nor did he ask about flag pins! What is the media coming to?

  by KFlake on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:36:04 AM PDT

•  100% agree

  HRC, and her "style" of campaigning, is everything that he is not. I think Obama has a great deal of patience and self-discipline to have been so gracious towards her over the course of this race. But if I were in his shoes, I would at the very least just deeply dislike her. I can't see him rewarding her attempts to destroy him with the offer of VP. And yes, I think that has been her goal--not just to win, but to destroy him. Her behavior has been loathsome.

  Love the Ted Kennedy quote, too. He still has his snark on!

  Nice diary.

  by Jennifer Clare on Fri May 09, 2008 at 12:02:38 PM PDT