Should Hillary accept VP slot if offered? [View All]

[kennetha]

Let's grant, for the sake of argument, that Obama is more likely than not to be the democratic nominee. Here are some things that strike me as more likely than not, at least at this moment.

First, without a serious reconciliation between Obama and Clinton supporters, Obama is probably going to lose in November. Second, even with Hillary's enthusiastic endorsement, he may well still lose. That's because many of Clinton's supporters are so angry and alienated that nothing short of her on the ticket -- either at the head or in second place -- will satisfy them. I myself am not quite that alienated and angry. But I'm getting closer and closer every day.

I think Obama's main chance of winning the vast bulk of Hillarydom over to his cause is to put Hillary herself on the ticket.

But sometimes it strikes me that he may be too small-minded, arrogant and fearful to see that. Indeed, part of me wonders whether he is man enough and secure enough in himself to put a tough woman, with a determined and independent base of support that's nearly equal to his own, on the ticket. It seems as though he may fear being overshadowed by her. That's really just a guess, of course. Clearly, though, many in his camp are too fearful, too small-minded and too arrogant to see the writing on the wall. They want a VP that is subservient, one that owes his/her political future entirely to Obama. They want a yes man or yes woman that will be nice wall paper. Hillary clearly isn't that. If Obama shares their outlook, he will never choose her.

On the other side, there is the question of whether Hillary should want to be on Obama's ticket even if offered. If she is on the ticket, and if he really is as small minded and fearful or her as his supporters evidently are, then he will do everything he can to diminish and emasculate her. On the other hand, if he has a larger, less self-focused vision than his supporters do, he will try to magnify her and exploit her considerable strengths.

So depending on how Clinton sizes up the real Obama, it just may be better for her (and for the party) to basically sit this one out.

It would be painful, in a way, to watch him go down in flames. And who knows what trouble a President McCain could cause.

But with her base in tact and expanded in 2012 -- as she goes back to the Senate and fights and fights and fights for progressive causes against John McCain -- she will be the presumptive nominee. Moreover, the "Obama wing" of the party will be in shambles. They and their enablers will take the blame for leading us to defeat in what looked like a sure democratic year. That would be hardball politics, to be sure. But sometimes you have to play hardball to save a party from itself. Plus the race doesn't always go to the swift.

On the other hand, if Obama wins without any help from Hillarydom, the party will be his and his alone for the next eight years. She has to make a calculation whether that is more or less likely. But personally, I think that without Hillary there is almost no chance of an Obama victory.