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Hillary Clinton and the Convention
Aug. 25th, 2008 09:16 amThere have been various rumbles, mostly attributed to unnamed "sources," that Hillary Clinton wanted the Vice President slot. I'm trying to figure out why she'd want to be VP.
Assume Obama wins, and she's VP. Well, the VP's power is entirely derived from and at the pleasure of the President. Modern VPs are in the loop, but they weren't always. Truman, for example, found out about the atomic bomb only after FDR died. So Clinton as VP would be limited. As a senator from New York with a working majority and a big IOU from Obama, she would be quite powerful. She could get a cabinet post, a Supreme Court slot, whatever she wanted.
Assuming Obama looses and she's on the ticket, well, she goes down with him. But if Obama looses and she's not on the ticket, her 2012 campaign slogan is "I told you so!" Or let's say Obama wins in 2008 but is a Carter-like President - ineffective and unpopular. Senator Clinton can mount a primary campaign. Vice President Clinton can't.
As far as her making an attempt at the convention for the nomination, Google tells me that she's some $20 million in the hole on campaign funds, and not really pulling much in. Obama has cash coming out the wazoo. There's a difference between "ambition" and "Charge of the Light Brigade stupidity." That music you hear in the background is the fat lady warming up.
Don't get me wrong - the Democrats are good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory - but I suspect that this convention will be uneventful.
Assume Obama wins, and she's VP. Well, the VP's power is entirely derived from and at the pleasure of the President. Modern VPs are in the loop, but they weren't always. Truman, for example, found out about the atomic bomb only after FDR died. So Clinton as VP would be limited. As a senator from New York with a working majority and a big IOU from Obama, she would be quite powerful. She could get a cabinet post, a Supreme Court slot, whatever she wanted.
Assuming Obama looses and she's on the ticket, well, she goes down with him. But if Obama looses and she's not on the ticket, her 2012 campaign slogan is "I told you so!" Or let's say Obama wins in 2008 but is a Carter-like President - ineffective and unpopular. Senator Clinton can mount a primary campaign. Vice President Clinton can't.
As far as her making an attempt at the convention for the nomination, Google tells me that she's some $20 million in the hole on campaign funds, and not really pulling much in. Obama has cash coming out the wazoo. There's a difference between "ambition" and "Charge of the Light Brigade stupidity." That music you hear in the background is the fat lady warming up.
Don't get me wrong - the Democrats are good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory - but I suspect that this convention will be uneventful.
