The vice-presidency isn't worth a pitcher of warm piss. ~ John Nance GarnerThe concept of a Dream Ticket where two equals, a nominee and his charismatic rival, join forces to run a single campaign is a myth of American politics. It has never happened. The closest we have come in the last century is 1976. Gerald Ford barely beat Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination. Ford needed the more popular Reagan and asked him to be Vice-President. Reagan refused, concluding that while Ford would benefit from the arrangement he would not.
The Vice-Presidency is a closet in which to hide an annoyingly popular person (Teddy Roosevelt) or a place to put a cypher who has gained a few IOUs. An equal would never accept second place on a ticket for the simple reason he can do more outside the administration than he could ever accomplish as the Veep.
In this instance, Hillary needs him. She needs his voters. She needs to calm the explosion that would certainly follow her absconding with the nomination. Were Obama to accept the role of Hillary's caddie he would become marginalized. As a potential rival she would be certain to hide him. He would be unable to forge an independent political base for a future run while the Clinton base, even if they were willing to share it (unlikely), is a top down structure of no use to Obama. The dream of Obama's campaign would dry up like a raisin in the sun. As an independent voice not strapped to the anchor that is Hillary Clinton, Obama can continue to build his dream for our future.
Obama has rightly rejected the offer. He did it far more gracefully than I would have.
1 comment:
Great Post.
Post a Comment