06/06/2008 / USA
The choice
of vice-president could affect the outcome of the election like it never has
before. Obama and Hillary is a dream ticket and seems to make perfect sense -
it's what we need to clinch the deal. She'd clearly help him with his
vulnerable areas - with Hispanic people, the working class and women - he's not
going to win any one state just with afro-American voters. Not one. And anyone
who thinks that anger over the war is going to push Obama into the White House is
hugely mistaken.
Hillary for vice-president? - "Obama, please don’t make the mistake"
Photo: ishrona on Flickr
Hillary Clinton was finally dragged - kicking and screaming - out of the race to the White House on Tuesday. But she can still harbour hopes of reaching her target - if she's willing to accept second place. Our Observers tell us what could happen if presidential candidate Barack Obama picks the former First Lady as his number two.
There was both relief and disappointment on Tuesday when Barack Obama announced he had secured enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee for the US presidential election. And although his long-time and fierce contender Clinton said last night that she is not "seeking" the post of vice-president, neither did she say she wasn't interested. With some party members mobilising to support the idea and others waving warning flags, the Democrats are in for yet another cliff hanger until Obama makes his choice. Meanwhile, observers weigh up the possible benefits and disadvantages of a pact between the former foes.
"Obama, please don’t make the mistake of putting Hillary on your ticket"
Wayne Phillips is an Obama supporter from Concord, California. He posted this video on YouTube on Wednesday.
"It’s a dream ticket and (…) what we need to do to clinch the deal"
Meredith Gowan Le Goff is vice-president of Democrats Abroad living in Paris. She's a Hillary Clinton supporter.
The choice
of vice-president could affect the outcome of the election like it never has
before. Obama and Hillary is a dream ticket and seems to make perfect sense -
it's what we need to clinch the deal. She'd clearly help him with his
vulnerable areas - with Hispanic people, the working class and women - he's not
going to win any one state just with afro-American voters. Not one. And anyone
who thinks that anger over the war is going to push Obama into the White House is
hugely mistaken.Plus, nobody's started asking hard questions yet. And the McCain team is going to start doing that now. Then people might start thinking Obama's not so great, and the Republicans will take the chance to get the wind in their sails again. The question is, who's going to be able to fight that in November. I'd be happy if he picks Clinton as VP. But knowing both Clinton and Obama as a delegate, I have to question if they could work together as personalities. Emotionally I'd have to say no."
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Nightmare ticket
Submitted by seattle (not verified) on Sat, 07/06/2008 - 03:08.Clinton lost and her supporters are still trashing him, why does this not surprise me the "nobody's started asking hard questions yet" message from the Clinton camp will hopefully be over by January, but somehow I doubt it.
Lets turn this around, if Clinton was such a great candidate, then why didn't SHE ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS?
Clinton has had enough time to ask these "hard questions" that you keep mentioning.
The best thing about Obama vs McCain is that it is a real choice for America, Clinton basically ran a campaign on the "Experience" platform, a platform that says McCain is more qualified to be president than she is.
Democrats win the white house by bringing charasmatic candidates before the American people, Kennedy(both), even Jimmy Carter, and everybody remembers Bill sixteen years ago.
The Clintons don't have the magic anymore, get over it, bury it, move on to what works, REAL CHANGE.
So Clinton supporters keep trashing Obama, and all it shows is that the Clintons are running for 2012, hoping that if they keep Obama from winning the Clintons can come back in four years. Very sad.
Unregistered user
Women, hispanics and white working class will vote Dem in Nov.
Submitted by Wayne Phillips on Fri, 06/06/2008 - 16:03.Hello Meredith,
Thank you for your feedback but I would like to clear up a few misconceptions voiced in your Dream Ticket post. Firstly, you mention that Obama cannot rely solely on African Americans to get elected. I agree and so far he has not. The truth is most of the people who voted for OBama are White Americans. This is why he won states with almost no black population like Iowa, Montana, Idaho, Kansas, Utah, Vermont, Wyoming, Wisconnsin. I hope you get my point. Obama dominated the mostly white midwest. The notion that white people have not been voting for him is patently false.
You also mention that Obama will need Clinton in order to win hispanics and women. Surely, he lost this group to Clinton, but according to a recent Gallup Poll he wins hispanics and women overwhelmingly when he goes against McCain. Women do not want to lose their reproductive rights by voting Republican and Hispanics dislike the Republicans overzealous views on how to deal with immigration. They wont be voting McCain either.
One thing we do agree on and that is Obama and Clinton will not be able to work well together. When you consider the fact that President Obama will have to work with his VP for 4 to 8 years it makes a Hillary selection less and less attractive.
Wayne Phillips
How soon you forget Wayne.
Submitted by Anonyme (not verified) on Sat, 07/06/2008 - 02:22.How soon you forget Wayne. Hispanic voters remember that McCain was a prime sponsor of the bill to grant the millions of undocumented immigrants citizenship. That makes him rather popular with our demographic.
Unregistered user
If McCain is so popular why is he losing in the polls?
Submitted by Wayne Phillips on Tue, 10/06/2008 - 16:10.According to gallup McCain is losing by wide margins both women and hispanics to Barack Obama. He is losing by double digit margins amongst these groups. Obama is leading 62% to 29% among hispanics according to a gallup poll. Here is the link.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/107689/Early-Gallup-Road-Map-McCainObama-Matc...
He is leading 48 to 42 among women according to the same poll.
Wayne Phillips
Anonyme... I realize this is
Submitted by DontBeFooledChild (not verified) on Sat, 07/06/2008 - 19:25.Anonyme... I realize this is an emotional issue for the Hispanic community but no matter what any politician says, a majority vote to grant U.S. citizenship to individuals that are in the U.S. illegally does not exist. Reagan's amnesty was not altruistic. It was a stop-gap measure to secure a relatively unprotected, cheap labor force and endear a naive voting bloc. Cheap labor is now outsourced without the concommitant socioeconomic risks and cost (NAFTA,CAFTA and TFAA being the most bang for the buck).
Unregistered user