Why Obama Won’t Take Hillary

By Matthew Rothschild, May 8, 2008

Michelle would divorce him, for one thing. And for another, Clinton wouldn’t help the ticket.The Hillary camp is angling now for the VP slot, and some facile pundits are refrying the dream team cliché.

But don’t go out and buy an Obama/Clinton bumper sticker any time soon.

Here’s why Barack won’t take Hillary.

For one, they can’t stand each other, and neither can their staffs. Michelle probably would divorce Barack if he chose Hillary. Given how nasty the Clinton campaign has been toward Obama, it’s hard to see them making up.

And for two, Clinton wouldn’t help the ticket.

Her negatives are astronomical, and she’d galvanize the Republican rightwing, which isn’t exactly thrilled with McCain.

Any draw that she might have with independent women or moderate Republican women would be far outweighed by these factors.

And I don’t buy the idea that her appeal with white working class men, which she now brags about in a racist way, is bankable.

Here was her outrageous comment to USA Today:

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said citing an article that she said “found how Sen. Obama's support among hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

Hard-working Americans and white Americans are an identical set?

Black Americans aren’t hardworking?

That’s not going to endear her to Obama, either.

And, anyway, if the goal is to appeal to the white working class, Obama can do that better by choosing someone like Senator Jim Webb of Virginia or Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania or Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio or even John Edwards.

And if the goal is to appeal to Latinos, there’s Bill Richardson, who has a ton of experience, to boot.

While I’m at it, if experience is the main criterion, there’s always Al Gore.

Hillary Clinton is losing the Presidential race, and she’ll lose the Vice Presidential one, too.

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