Not Ready on Day 1, but Ready to be Number 2?

Since when does the person in second place offer the chance to the front winner to run for Vice President? You’re winning, so why not take second place? That’s what Hillary and Bill Clinton have been suggesting over the last couple of days.

It’s a message that’s at odds with another of Billary’s recent campaign tactics, that Obama isn’t ready to be President, not ready to take that 3 a.m. phone call if there’s another terrorist attack or some other crisis. Hard to have it both ways, either he’s qualified to be President and therefore a heartbeat away, or he’s not.

There may be increasing pressure on the loser in the race, whether it’s Clinton or Obama, to accept the VP spot. Clinton-Obama makes a lot more sense than Obama-Clinton, but I stand by my earlier prediction that it won’t happen. Hillary might hope to pick up some of the legions of young people, blacks and other voters who are now enthusiastic about the election and likely to be disafected if Hillary somehow manages to win.

Why won’t they be running mates? If you’re Obama, what’s your better bet if you lose? Say Hillary wins, then you sign on to accept all the baggage that’s likely to build up during a second Clinton White House and with Bill around, you’re not going to get much experience to enhance your already thin resume. A better bet would running for Governor of Illinois and hoping she loses a re-election bid.

If Obama wins, which still seems more likely, how can you argue that you would “turn the page” offering “new politics” if you’re running mate is the same person you spent the last few months linking to the bitter partisanship of the last 16 years?

About half of the people in this country say they wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton under any circumstances. She wouldn’t be an asset to Obama. If she wins the nomination, you might see some perfunctory posturing to indicate that he’s being considered, but it seems unlikely that he would accept or that she would really want him to.

How much change is the country ready for right now? I suspect both of them will want a nice solid white guy as a running mate to temper the anxiety among some voters who might want to make history, but not quite as much as having both of them on the same ticket.