In today’s Washington Post, David Broder counts the reasons why the so-called Clinton-Obama “dream ticket” isn’t such a good idea for either candidate:
[J]udging from what I was told in a canvass of both the Clinton and Obama camps, there is good reason to believe this pairing will never occur. Even if the long campaign does not leave bruised personal feelings, practical considerations for both candidates argue strongly against such a deal.
For Clinton, partnering with Obama, with him on top of the ticket, would either leave her part of a defeated pair in a party that is not generous about second chances or, if they won, probably lock her out of a presidential run until 2016, when she would be 68 — almost John McCain’s age now.
Knowledgeable Democrats see at least two more-attractive options for her. One is to return to the Senate, where she is popular, well established and potentially in line to be majority leader, a position with real power. The other is to go back to New York, where Eliot Spitzer’s resignation from the governorship yesterday leaves a potential opening for a new candidate in 2010.
As for Obama, many of the same arguments apply — with even greater force. He is less enamored of the Senate than is Clinton, but it could provide a comfortable resting place for four or eight years. Or he could go back to Illinois and run for governor in 2010, when incumbent Democrat Rod Blagojevich would be up for a possible third term.
Obama would be a heavy favorite over Blagojevich or anyone else in a primary and over the nominee of the beleaguered Illinois GOP. And winning the governorship would provide the executive experience that may be the biggest gap in his résumé.
And, as Broder notes, there’s an even better reason for Obama to turn down an invitation to be Hillary’s No. 2:
With Bill Clinton poised to move back to the White House if his wife becomes president, the West Wing will be a miserably crowded place. There are almost always jealousies and tensions between the president’s staff and the vice president’s. But add in Bill Clinton’s ego and entourage, and serving there would truly be cruel and unusual punishment for Obama.
Not to mention the fact that he really doesn’t need to take the risk of being tainted by association with the Clinton Machine.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has yet to take sides in the race, poured cold water on the idea of a pairing of the two candidates:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is throwing cold water on the idea of a “dream ticket” on the Democratic presidential b
“Take it from me — that won’t be the ticket,” Pelosi said Thursday at her weekly press conference. Pressed for further explanation by a chorus of reporters shouting, “Why?” Pelosi declined to elaborate.
“Do you want me to go through a lifetime of political gut?” said Pelosi, who grew up in an intensely political family in Baltimore. “I do think we’ll have a dream team — it just won’t be those two names.”
Here’s the video:
Pelosi and Broder are right on this one. It’s not gonna happen.
