Below The Beltway

With the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination effectively over, the question of the day now is what happens with Hillary Clinton, and whether she really wants to be Obama’s Vice-Presidential running mate. While there’s nothing official from the campaign, of course, there are surrogates out there who seem to be pushing the idea of Hillary as the inevitable choice for the No. 2 slot.

Lanny Davis, who has been among Hillary Clinton’s most vociferous and vocal advocates during the primary campaign cycle, is already circulating a petition calling on Obama to pick Hillary:

On Tuesday night, he launched — without, he said, coordination with the Clinton campaign — a petition drive aimed at persuading Obama to tap her as his running mate. The effort officially begins today at a new website, womenforfairpolitics.com. And here’s a missive Davis sent to Obama:

“We write you because we believe it is very important for the Democrats to win back the presidency in 2008. To do so, we must field the strongest possible ticket for the Democratic Party. We believe the 2008 election could be close. And your selection of a vice presidential candidate may make the difference between victory and defeat.

“We write to urge you to select Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be your choice for vice president because we believe that she would be, by far, the most qualified and strongest candidate to be your running mate.

“Both you and Sen. Clinton during this campaign have demonstrated strengths in different segments of the electorate and in different parts of the country. Together, you stand the best chance of making U.S. history not once but twice — the first African American president and the first female vice president since the founding of our great nation.

“We know this is ultimately your decision on who is to be your running mate. But with the greatest respect, we ask you to select Sen. Clinton in recognition of the more than 17 million Democrats who supported her at the polls and who, in combination with your more than 17 million supporters, would form the base of a successful presidential campaign in the November election.”

Independent of Davis, Black Entertainment Television founder, and prominent Clinton supporter, Bob Johnson, is urging one of Obama’s highest-ranking backers to push for an Obama-Clinton ticket:

CHARLOTTE — Billionaire Bob Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television and the owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, launched a campaign Wednesday aimed at persuading Sen. Barack Obama to offer the vice presidential slot to Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Johnson sent a letter to House Majority Whip James Clyburn, lobbying the Congressional Black Caucus to get behind Clinton and endorse her as Obama’s running mate.

“You can’t find in an historic election two more dynamic, inspiring people who could lead this country and lead the Democratic Party for years to come,” Johnson said.

Johnson urged Clyburn to do what he said needs to be done for the sake of party unity. Johnson is a close friend and informal adviser to Clinton. He supported her candidacy for president.

And, finally, Marc Ambinder reports that the New York Congressional Delegation seems to be getting behind an effort to get Hillary on the ticket.

It’s pretty obvious what’s happening here. The Clinton campaign and it’s supporters are attempting to make the idea of an Obama/Clinton ticket seem to be the “will of the party” to such an extent that Obama would essentially be forced to ask Hillary to be his running mate. At that point, the Clinton’s could name their price for their support, much in the same way that Gerald Ford tried to tie Ronald Reagan’s hands at the 1980 Republican Convention when Reagan initially considered asking the former President to be his running mate:

During the convention, the possibility of choosing former president Gerald Ford as the vice-presidential nominee was given at least some consideration. Ford asked for certain powers and prerogatives that has been described as making Ford a co-president. This included the return of Henry Kissinger as Secretary of State and the appointment of Alan Greenspan as Secretary of the Treasury. The two sides could not agree and ultimately, George Bush was chosen less than 24 hours before the ticket was announced

Now, it’s entirely probable that Henry Kissinger would have made a better Secretary of State in the early `80’s than Alexander Haig — whose tenure was less than stellar — and that Alan Greenspan as Secretary of the Treasury would have been an excellent tag-team partner with then Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker. But Reagan was right to turn the deal with Ford down because accepting it would have been a sign of weakness that very well could have doomed his Presidency, if not the election.

And that’s exactly the choice that Obama would have to make in this case.

At this point, if he selects Hillary Clinton as his running mate, it’s going to look like he was forced into doing it, and voters will be right to ask how they can be sure he can stand up to a foreign tyrant if he can’t stand up to Bill and Hillary Clinton. An Obama/Clinton ticket might just win the White House, but it could very well be the first time in history that an American President was overshadowed by his Vice-President and her spouse — putting him a situation as difficult as when John Adams was forced to deal with the overpowering personalities of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, as I noted last month:

For Obama to accept Hillary and Bill — and make no mistake, they are a package deal — as his Vice-President would amount to putting the people who have spent the past few months trying to destroy him a heartbeat away from regaining the Presidency.

But that isn’t stopping people from talking this idea up like it’s actually a smart thing to do.

What’s ironic is that there is one prominent Democrat telling Obama not to pick Hillary, and considering how politically smart the advice is, you wouldn’t believe who’s giving it:

Barack Obama should not pick Hillary Clinton as his vice-presidential nominee, former president Jimmy Carter has told the Guardian.

“I think it would be the worst mistake that could be made,” said Carter. “That would just accumulate the negative aspects of both candidates.”

Carter, who formally endorsed the Illinois senator last night, cited opinion polls showing 50% of US voters with a negative view of Clinton.

In terms that might discomfort the Obama camp, he said: “If you take that 50% who just don’t want to vote for Clinton and add it to whatever element there might be who don’t think Obama is white enough or old enough or experienced enough or because he’s got a middle name that sounds Arab, you could have the worst of both worlds.”

Carter, who insisted that he would have been equally against an Obama-Clinton pairing if the former first lady had won the nomination, made the remarks in an interview with the Guardian’s Weekend magazine, to be published on Saturday. The interview was conducted before the final round of voting last night confirmed Obama as the party’s presumptive nominee.

And Dick Morris, who had previously said that an Obama-Clinton ticket would be the dumbest decision Obama could make, offers this today:

On her own, Hillary would be no bargain as vice president. She would never accept direction and never sublimate her ambition or agenda to Obama’s. But with Bill in tow, her candidacy becomes even more fraught with peril should Obama be inclined to bow to pressure and put her on the ticket.

I hate to say that I agree with Jimmy Carter and Dick Morris, but I do. Putting her, and Bill, on the ticket, would be the dumbest idea ever.

Update: Ron Chusid is on the same page:

Besides making a poor running mate, Clinton would be a poor vice president. Her lack of experience would be a problem both as a candidate and as vice president. Her lack of integrity presents an even more serious problem for someone next in line to be president. We cannot totally ignore Clinton’s warnings about the dangers Obama might face.

Yea, that about sums it up.