After stepping out of the confessional with ABC�s Father Woodruff, and admitting his extra-marital affair, I immediately crossed John Edwards off my shortlist of potential running mates for Barack Obama.
A darn shame.
I always thought those two went together like bacon and eggs: Two attractive candidates, filled with optimism, one from the South Side of Chicago, the other from the Old South, joining forces and going head-to-head against John McCain, aka ``The White Tornado��, and whoever his second banana was destined to be.
How could it miss? Two Camelot�s for the price of one.
So the pundits now tell us the leading contender is Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), a pal of Hillary Clinton�s, but more importantly, a candidate who could help deliver a key battleground state for the junior senator in November.
Another possibility is Joe Biden, the Delaware senator whose long distinguished foreign policy experience would help lessen reservations voters might have about Obama�s perceived world affairs naivet.
Both fine choices.
But neither candidate would make the Democratic ticket look like the dynamic duo in the mold of Kennedy/Johnson (1960); or Clinton/Gore (1992).
And with polls showing Obama practically in a dead-heat with his Republican rival, a dynamic duo is just what is needed to secure the White House.
If Obama is Batman, who is his Robin?
I never thought it would come to this, but Obama might not be able to win this thing unless Hillary gets the nod as his running mate.
I realize the disadvantages of the former First Lady on the Democratic ticket: some say she brings heavy baggage, the most obvious being hubby Bill; others claim she would direct the klieg lights away from Obama, and still others think it would move the ``Obamaicans�� (Republicans who drifted toward Obama�s corner) back under the Republican column.
But with only three months until Election Day, and despite running against eight years of Republican calamities, with the country on the brink of a recession, and caught up in a unpopular and costly conflict in Iraq, Obama still isn�t pulling away from McCain; still isn�t connecting with the white middle-class voters, especially those making $50,000 or less, (the so-called Dunkin Donut voters), the very voting bloc the New York senator feasted on; and the big reason why the freshman senator struggled so mightily down the home stretch of the primary.
Beginning in March, and extending through June 3rd, some of the key delegate rich states Clinton won included: Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky and South Dakota.
Will Obama be able to win those states without Hillary in the general election? That�s a question Obama and his brain trust will have to answer very soon.
Another motivation to unite Hillary and Obama is the woman vote. You would have thought that with Mrs. Clinton throwing her support behind Obama, women would have naturally followed her lead.
Not the case, at least according to a new poll released by the nonpartisan, Every Woman Counts, which reports that neither Obama or McCain have secured the majority of women voters. 10 percent of women, according to the survey, are undecided about either candidate, which might be yet another indication November�s race could be tighter than expected. Women represented 54 percent of the electorate during the 2004 presidential election, so they're obviously not a voting bloc to be taken lightly
The final reason Team Obama might want to select Clinton is the rare history they would be making by merging the first African-American and the first woman on a major ticket contending for the White House. Carpe diem!
I�m sure JFK if given his druthers, would have steered clear of the domineering underhanded senate majority leader, if LBJ's southern base wasn�t absolutely vital to the Democratic ticket.
Strictly from a political, demographic perspective, an Obama/Clinton ticket not only would be formidable; it is one that is quickly turning out to be a political necessity if Obama hopes to win the White House.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
A darn shame.
I always thought those two went together like bacon and eggs: Two attractive candidates, filled with optimism, one from the South Side of Chicago, the other from the Old South, joining forces and going head-to-head against John McCain, aka ``The White Tornado��, and whoever his second banana was destined to be.
How could it miss? Two Camelot�s for the price of one.
So the pundits now tell us the leading contender is Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), a pal of Hillary Clinton�s, but more importantly, a candidate who could help deliver a key battleground state for the junior senator in November.
Another possibility is Joe Biden, the Delaware senator whose long distinguished foreign policy experience would help lessen reservations voters might have about Obama�s perceived world affairs naivet.
Both fine choices.
But neither candidate would make the Democratic ticket look like the dynamic duo in the mold of Kennedy/Johnson (1960); or Clinton/Gore (1992).
And with polls showing Obama practically in a dead-heat with his Republican rival, a dynamic duo is just what is needed to secure the White House.
If Obama is Batman, who is his Robin?
I never thought it would come to this, but Obama might not be able to win this thing unless Hillary gets the nod as his running mate.
I realize the disadvantages of the former First Lady on the Democratic ticket: some say she brings heavy baggage, the most obvious being hubby Bill; others claim she would direct the klieg lights away from Obama, and still others think it would move the ``Obamaicans�� (Republicans who drifted toward Obama�s corner) back under the Republican column.
But with only three months until Election Day, and despite running against eight years of Republican calamities, with the country on the brink of a recession, and caught up in a unpopular and costly conflict in Iraq, Obama still isn�t pulling away from McCain; still isn�t connecting with the white middle-class voters, especially those making $50,000 or less, (the so-called Dunkin Donut voters), the very voting bloc the New York senator feasted on; and the big reason why the freshman senator struggled so mightily down the home stretch of the primary.
Beginning in March, and extending through June 3rd, some of the key delegate rich states Clinton won included: Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky and South Dakota.
Will Obama be able to win those states without Hillary in the general election? That�s a question Obama and his brain trust will have to answer very soon.
Another motivation to unite Hillary and Obama is the woman vote. You would have thought that with Mrs. Clinton throwing her support behind Obama, women would have naturally followed her lead.
Not the case, at least according to a new poll released by the nonpartisan, Every Woman Counts, which reports that neither Obama or McCain have secured the majority of women voters. 10 percent of women, according to the survey, are undecided about either candidate, which might be yet another indication November�s race could be tighter than expected. Women represented 54 percent of the electorate during the 2004 presidential election, so they're obviously not a voting bloc to be taken lightly
The final reason Team Obama might want to select Clinton is the rare history they would be making by merging the first African-American and the first woman on a major ticket contending for the White House. Carpe diem!
I�m sure JFK if given his druthers, would have steered clear of the domineering underhanded senate majority leader, if LBJ's southern base wasn�t absolutely vital to the Democratic ticket.
Strictly from a political, demographic perspective, an Obama/Clinton ticket not only would be formidable; it is one that is quickly turning out to be a political necessity if Obama hopes to win the White House.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
Comments