What to make of the suggestion being floated by the Clinton camp that Obama might be her running mate? First Bill came out and endorsed the idea over the weekend, saying the match-up would make “for an almost unstoppable force.” (What is an “almost unstoppable force,” anyway? Is that like the New England Patriots?) Then Hillary said in a campaign rally that she had heard from voters who said they wish they could vote for both her and Obama and she replied, “Well, that might be possible someday.” Even PA governor Ed Rendell got in on the act, saying on Meet the Press Sunday, “It would be a great ticket.”
The day wasn’t over before Obama threw some cold water on the Clinton fantasy, pointing out that he had more delegates than she did, had won more states than she had and in poll after poll was considered a stronger candidate to beat John McCain in November. And he added a reference to the logic behind HIllary’s three am phone call ad: “I don’t understand. If I’m not ready, how is it that you think that I should be such a great vice president?” he said at a rally in Columbus, Mississippi. “You can’t say that he’s not ready on day one — unless he’s willing to be your vice president, then he’s ready on day one.”
The problem with either combo — Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton — is that both candidates would have to then campaign wearing T-shirts that said I’m With Stupid. You can’t trash somebody for being an inexperienced jive-talker or a duplicitous pushover for seven months and then marry them on the eighth, can you? I mean it happens in Shakespeare and Hollywood romantic comedies, and there have been some odd pairings in presidential races within memory. (How about the first George Bush and his derision of Ronald Reagan’s “voodoo economics”? Didn’t stand in the way of walking down the aisle with the voodoo priest himself.) But if Clinton says Obama is not ready to be president, he’s not ready to be vice president, because the stand-in aspect is the most important part of the job. And if part of Obama’s argument for him over Hillary is that she has more negatives — smoking baggage with stickers that say Whitewater and Travelgate on them — bringing her along would only ruin the party. If not the Party.
Speaking of stupid, it also appears that the little girl seen sleeping so soundly in Hillary’s three am ad is not a little girl anymore: she’s a 17-year-old Obama supporter named Casey Knowleswhose stock image was used in the ad without her knowledge. Now she is lighting up the morning talk shows, labeling the spot “fear-mongering” and “a cheap hit.” Free publicity! And a reminder that you don’t want to make a woman look the fool on a national stage, even if she was just pretending to be asleep.
Just ask Mrs. Eliot Spitzer.