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CLINTON-OBAMA MERGER!
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The Democrats really need
both winners on the ticket
By RON MILLER
of TheColumnists.com
At first it was a fantasy: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on the same Democrat "dream" ticket in the 2008 presidential campaign. The political sharpies, of course, said it couldn't be done.
Now I think it MUST be done if the Democrats are going to take control of the White House away from the GOP next January. Here's why:
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) is now the presumptive nominee of the Republicans. He has blown away all feasible opposition and last week received the official blessings of Pres. George W. Bush. He has lots of people still to convince within his own party that he's a guy they can get all enthused over. He was, until a few years ago, the party's leading maverick. He spoke out against Pres. Bush before it was fashionable and he also angered lots of fellow Republicans by teaming up with Democrats to get reform-style legislation through the logjammed Congress.
But McCain, despite the reservations of many right-wingers, will be a formidable candidate because he has always appealed to independents and even a good many Democrats. His appeal seems to be strong throughout the U.S., even in the Bible Belt.
What's more, he was a military hero, surviving years in a prison camp during the Vietnam War. And he cozied up to the press decades ago. The reporters and correspondents love the guy. He can take a joke and, upon occasion, even dish one out. Attempts to stick scandals to him have failed time and again.
Meanwhile, Sens. Clinton (D-NY) and Obama (D-Ill.) are locked in a titantic struggle for the Democratic nomination. When the dust cleared after Tuesday's primaries in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island, Obama still had the lead in elected delegates but Clinton, who won three of the four primaries, had staged a major comeback and may have seized the momentum from Obama.
Most pundits seemed to think Clinton had turned the tide by using strong attack tactics against Obama, possibly damaging his image as a man who's experienced enough and ready to assume the presidency. As one pundit observed, the knives will be out for the rest of the campaign and, "There will be blood!"
This is nothing but bad news for the Democrats' prospects in the November general election. McCain and the GOP would love nothing better than to sit back and refine their plans for the final campaign while Clinton and Obama eviscerate each other on national television.
I've already heard dire predictions that neither candidate will have enough delegates to take the nomination before the Democtrats' national convention this summer. That could mean it will come down to "superdelegates," those office-holding Democrats and party figures who can cast their votes to put one or the other candidate over the top at the convention.
Another dismal scenario: Efforts will be made to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan, states whose delegates were eliminated by the national party because they moved up their primaries against the party's rules. Last minute elections might even be held in those states just to settle the issue.
Either scenario--the superdelegates being courted in last minute backroom deals or candidates pressuring the party into admitting Florida and Michigan delegates--could be incredibly disillusioning for the millions of new voters who turned out for primaries all across America. If Obama won the popular vote, but Clinton got the nomination on what amounts to a technicality, you can bet millions of young voters who turned out for Obama might decide to kiss the fall election goodbye.
At the same time, I've heard scores of feminists complaining about the unfairness of a situation in which they've worked all their lives to see a woman in the final race for the U.S. presidency, but now she finds herself up against a candidate who likewise holds all the hopes and dreams of another huge bloc of voters--African Americans.
Will blacks walk away from the party if Obama isn't the nominee, even after winning the most states? It could happen. Will Democatic women voters consider McCain if Hillary is kicked aside by Obama? Could be.
Here's the dilemma for a great many Democrats, like me, who don't fit into either of those categories: These are TWO great candidates. I will be happy if either one gets the nomination. I will be UNHAPPY if they're both not on the ticket. I would accept a Clinton-Obama ticket or a Obama-Clinton ticket. And I'll bet such a ticket, no matter which way it's configured, would keep most of that vast majority of voters who made this primary season one for the record books in terms of turnout.
Here's what I think should be done right now: Clinton and Obama should meet and agree that the one who takes the most elected delegates into the convention should be the nominee and the other should he his or her running mate. There isn't really a scintilla of difference between them in terms of policies. I like Clinton's health plan better, but I think her plan still has a good chance of being the one the party supports, even if Obama is the next president. I agree that Obama may have a better chance at beating McCain because more Republicans like him than Clinton. He may even get some of their votes, but I doubt if many GOP women will flock to Hillary.
You can't diminish the appeal there would be for a ticket that includes either the first female or first black president in American history--with the other just a heartbeat away from the presidency. This would be the most revolutionary ticket in American political history. Talk about change. That's CHANGE in all caps.
At a time when America needs to heal wounds in foreign relations all over the globe, it would say volumes about our society to have either Clinton or Obama out there, reminding people of color that America is indeed the land of the free, reminding oppressed women in male-dominated societies that we trust one of their gender to be at the very top of our power grid.
Even the traditional reasons for choosing a former opponent to be a running mate are intact: If Obama might need help in winning the big states or the states with huge Latino populations, Clinton most definitely would help. Meanwhile, Obama will continue to motivate young people all over America to get involved in the process, helping Clinton add the demographic that eludes her. Each is from a big state and bringing those states home in the fall would be vital.
Finally, if Clinton and Obama could make such a pact as they go into these last few primaries, they could let the public know that they're bonded as Democrats now and are working together to unite their party around whoever wins the nomination. They could stop using their knives on each other and start sharpening them up for McCain.
Yes, that means putting their own ego-driven ideas aside, but they're going to have to do that anyway and support each other during the fall campaign if they really want their party to be on top in 2009.
Finally, I have to say I'm confident that either Clinton or Obama could handle the crisis when that phone call comes in the middle of the night. I just hope they don't get so cozy that they're in bed together and have to fight over whose turn it is to answer.
©2008 by Ron Miller. This column first posted March 10, 2008.
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