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.

It’s Not Plagiarism, It’s an Homage, Part 2: Hillary Rips off Bill Clinton & John Edwards

“Hello Kettle? It’s Pot. You’re black.”

In the Texas debate, minutes after she condemned Barack Obama for copying part of a speech made originally by his friend and supporter, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Hillary Clinton borrowed lines from her husband and former rival candidate John Edwards to make her closing statement.

"If your candidacy is going to be about words, then they should be your own words,” she said.

But her campaign is about solutions, not words, so apparently it’s cool if she appropriates good words from other people.


Hillary Clinton, February 21, 2008: “The hits I’ve taken in life are nothing compared to what goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country.”

Bill Clinton, 1992: “The hits that I took in this election are nothing compared to the hits the people of this state and this country have been taking for a long time.”

Hillary Clinton, February 21, 2008: “Whatever happens, we’re going to be fine. You know, we have strong support from our families and our friends. I just hope that we’ll be able to say the same thing about the American people, and that’s what this election should be about.”

John Edwards, October 30, 2007, Democratic candidates’ debate: "As a matter of fact, it's not about any of us. The truth is, when this election is over, I'm going to be fine. Senator Clinton is going to be fine. Senator Obama's going to be fine. Will America be fine? "-

Maybe Obama can Xerox a quip to call attention to that renewable resource that seems inexorably intertwined with politics—hypocrisy.

You can just imagine John Edwards, if he can stand to watch one of these debates at this point, saying, “Great! First she rips off my health care reform plan, now she’s giving my stump speech.”

Perhaps all the good rhetoric has already been written so we’re condemned to listening to the same speeches and talking points for the rest of eternity. Maybe when a primary aspect of your daily routine is to blather endlessly and associate with others who do likewise, you just absorb speech patterns by osmosis.

She was standing right next to John Edwards when he delivered the lines she later commandeered. She was probably nearby when Bill Clinton said the words that were the other part of her moment of eloquence the other night.

If it were a spontaneous statement, then it might be more forgivable, but it was quite clearly a prepared monologue. Odd that what has now been revealed to be plagiarized was seemingly her most genuine moment. Part of Hillary’s problem has been that she usually can’t manage to fake sincerity as effortlessly as more natural politicians like her husband. She finally manages to pull it off and she gets caught cheating.

If you’re going to steal, why not go for grand theft. Why steal purses when you can embezzle millions? Forget Bill Clinton and John Edwards. How about a rehash of one of FDR’s Fireside chats? What the hell, why not recite the Gettysburg address?

Obama called the scandlette of borrowed words “silly.” Indeed. As Alice in Wonderland might have said, “Sillier and sillier.”

Incidentally, I stole my lead sentence from an episode of “Friends.” If people who want to be President of the United States can’t be bothered to write original material, why the hell should I?

The Day After: Is Hillary’s Campaign DOA?

Imagine the morning meeting of the Hillary Clinton campaign brain trust on this the day after she was crushed in the latest of eight straight contests.

If you were one of her advisors, desperate to acquire that West Wing power broker job you believed was your destiny until the Iowa Caucuses, what’s your bright idea to turn this around? Because one thing’s for sure, stay the course won’t work.

Interesting comparison of some of the options likely being discussed behind closed doors detailed in today’s Fix:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/02/post_5.html

They could go negative. It’s not pretty and people say they hate it, but fighting dirty works. Bush used to defeat McCain. Bush used it against Kerry.

But they don’t seem to have anything left to throw at Obama. Hillary already hit him in a debate with his ties to “slum lord” Tony Rezko. Plus, Swift Boating Obama is risky because it deprives her of her victim status. We saw how sympathy helped push her over the top in New Hampshire.

There’s the economy, which seems to be spinning out of control like Iraq was last year. Trouble is, you have to get into the details and being the better policy wonk pales in comparison to Obama’s lofty, but vague Camelotesque call to action. Also, Bill Clinton is the one with the record on that front and reminding us of the positive elements of the 1990’s also brings flashbacks of the drama laden nature of a Clinton White House.

The spin from the campaign to date is that they are focused on big states with large numbers of delegates at stake, Texas and Ohio on March 4 and Pennsylvania on April 22. They’re writing off Hawaii since Obama’s childhood home is expected to give him another win.

Right now, Clinton has signaled that she is also resigned to losing Wisconsin on February 19, which would be her chance to derail the Obama juggernaut and give her a chance to regain some traction headed into the critical face-offs in Texas and Ohio. Perhaps she’s trying to downplay expectations, but last night she was in Texas and Obama was in Wisconsin. Clinton could have a good shot there so it would seem foolish not to put some serious effort into the race there. Go figure.

Does this strategy seem familiar? Remember Rudy’s plan that Florida would bail him out? Granted, unlike Giuliani’s operatic march to his own doom, Clinton has won a bunch of states, but there’s only so long you can keep losing before voters start viewing you as, well, a loser.

The remaining path to the nomination is ugly, perhaps handing John McCain a much better chance of winning in November. In this scenario, the super delegates and the tainted contests in Michigan and Florida decide the nominee. It would be the Democrats version of Bush vs. Gore 2000. If that’s the road Hillary takes to the nomination, the contagious enthusiasm that is driving record numbers of new voters to the polls is likely to disappear and independents may move to McCain.

Hillary’s not the type of politician to go gently into the night. She doesn’t have many options left and they're all bad.

See if you can find a vintage “Hail to the Thief” sign on eBay.

Bill Clinton wants to be 1st Lady when he grows up

Now that Hillary has put the former president’s manhood in a blind trust he’s allowed to talk to reporters again. Appearing eminently reasonable here:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/02/08/sot.bill.clinton.roll.wcsh

He predictably declines to accept responsibility for playing the race card in a desperate attempt to help his wife win the South Carolina primary.

He just seems to have realized that different rules of engagement apply to him as a former president than the rest of the 1st ladies in waiting.

Who will he wear to the inaugural balls?