So what's up with Hillary? Everyone, including Madame Senator, knows very well she's hit the end of the line. Why the vow, then, to soldier on?
No problem. Hillary --and Bill-- just think it's a nifty idea to hold the whole Democratic Party hostage for a few more weeks. Why not? They did it for eight years, so what's another a couple of Sundays?
Clinton clearly wants something out of it all. Maybe it's as simple as wanting to recoup a bit of dignity and respect. You know, leaving gracefully on her own terms. Maybe after the coming victories she expects in next week's inconsequential West Virginia and Kentucky primaries.
Or maybe she's killing time on the stump hoping to raise back the $6 million of her own she plowed into her campaign over the last month.
But maybe it's something more complicated. Maybe it's all about Hillary staying in to build as big a constituency as possible so she can guarantee herself the second slot on the ticket. It's the grand historical vindication for running one of the skankiest of campaigns. Barack wins in November thanks to the generosity of Hillary who stooped to be on the ticket with him.
Until this week, I had mostly dismissed the idea of her wanting or accepting the nod for Veep. Maybe I've been wrong, as it now seems the only rational explanation for her not formally bagging it Wednesday.
I still find it hard to imagine. What on Earth would Obama do with Bill?
Won't we ever be rid of these folks? Ever?
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May 7th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
If the Clintons hijack the VP nod, President Obama better wear a flak jacket at all times.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
The idea of an Obama/Clinton ticket seems increasingly stretched to me, even though I’ve proposed it as endgame here in the past. Still …
“What on Earth would Obama do with Bill?”
Bill CAN mend fences — I think he even befriended Joe Klein after Primary Colors.
As to where to put the guy, to get him out of the house, and at some distance from the core of administration, well … odd as it might sound, how about Secretary of State? Yeah, that’s a very high level cabinet position, but it’s also (traditionally) relatively independent. And he’s reasonably qualified, wouldn’t you say? (No, Woody, I am NOT asking YOU.)
Bill for Secretary of State — I think they should start floating rumors about it now. I’ll help. It will all be thinly fictionalized in my forthcoming novel, “Primary Odors”, which will be out in a few weeks. Tell me you can’t smell a change in the air already!
May 8th, 2008 at 4:44 am
“Won’t we ever be rid of these folks? Ever?”
Marc, I love ya and you ARE my blogfather, but the reason these folks are still around is because of progressives and liberal folk who in ’92, ’96 and ’00 accepted the Clinton line (whether for Bill in ’92 and ’96 or Hillary in ’00). Because of the adulation then, they think they deserve the coronation now!
May 8th, 2008 at 4:46 am
Michael, can I get a signed copy?
May 8th, 2008 at 5:11 am
Har. Just where did the Clintons get the crazy idea that they can get away with virtually anything?
May 8th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Notice how the color of Hillary’s pantsuits have changed as her support base shifted?
From serious browns and olives while courting the left, to happy blues, yellows, and pastels when courting the rest of us.
I expect to see her in a shirt anytime now. Belatedly acknowledging a difference between the sexes, conscientiously pissing off the left who abandoned her.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:00 am
That would be ‘skirt’, not just a ‘shirt’. That might come even later, if absolutely necessary.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Michael says, Let Hillary express her inner Clinton
michael-balter.blogspot.com/2008/05/let-hillary-express-her-inner-clinton.html
May 8th, 2008 at 7:15 am
I hope Obama has more sense than to ride into the November election with those twin saddlebags weighing him down and will be disappointed earlier than I ever expected to be if this perfect nightmare were to come to pass.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:20 am
As a former President, it’s unlikely that Bill Clinton would want to be Secretary of State, especially since he can copy Jimmy Carter (D) and go around wrecking U.S. foreign policy unrestricted just to make himself feel important. Hey, there could be a Nobel Peace Prize in it for him, too.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Current U.S. foreign policy needs to be wrecked, Woody, the sooner the better.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:40 am
What a photo: too blue.
Body language: awkward.
Me squinting: are there strings coming out of her arms?
May 8th, 2008 at 7:42 am
“Notice how the color of Hillary’s pantsuits have changed as her support base shifted?”
I think it was just the change of the seasons- muted tones in winter and bright colors in spring.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Btw, if Clinton needs to hang around for a while longer to pay off her campaign debts, couldn’t she just ring up Obama? I know campaign finance laws are ‘complicated’ but one campaign can loan to another, no? Sheesh, the way Obama raises dough on the internet, he could pay off her campaign debt by lunch time.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Bill Clinton could probably not become SoS as it would place him in line for the presidency and he could not legally serve.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Balter, our nation’s foreign policy is not wrecked when it comes to hugging dictators and cozying up to known terrorists.
- – -
Randy, then make Hillary Clinton SoS–but, increase security around the next President and all who are in line for the office before her.
- – -
Yesterday, I compared Hillary Clinton to the psycho who wouldn’t go away in “Fatal Attraction.” Some others see her in a similar way: hillary clinton: the psycho ex-girlfriend of the democratic party
DEMS: …Hello?
Hillary: Hey baby.
DEMS: C’mon Hillary. Enough with this.
Hillary: Don’t you get it? You NEED me.
DEMS: No, I don’t. It was fun while it lasted but….
May 8th, 2008 at 8:27 am
In observing Marc’s picture of Hillary Clinton standing there like a marionette, I noticed the sign held by one of her supporters that reads “Hillary Stands Up for Me!” Now, if she would just sit down for everyone else.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:41 am
>Bill Clinton could probably not become
>SoS as it would place him in line
>for the presidency and he could not
>legally serve.
Nah, they’d just skip him in line if necessary. Kissinger and Albright could not have legally serves as President either. Just the same, I doubt this is likely
May 8th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Stu,
Good point. I’d forgotten about them.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:55 am
I don’t see Hillary as vp since one of Obama’s themes is turning the page on the Bush and Clinton years. However Slick Willie could play a big part at the convention, such as introducing Obama and it would be like a revival meeting for many Democrats. I heard some pundits say this stuff and it sounds plausible.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Jim R – You’re starting to scare me with that bit on Hillary’s color schemes. Are you auditioning for Maureen Dowd’s job ?
May 8th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Woody:
Its nice to see Wil Wheaton as a well-adjusted ex-child star adult. Its also sad to see that Hillary would also be the most conservative of all 3 candidates on many issues.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:15 am
>I’d forgotten about them.
Lucky you
May 8th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Ohhh, I just noticed this.
Big Rewards Await Clinton If She Ends Campaign Now
She has ruled it out, but a prompt withdrawal from the contest for the Democratic nomination offers Sen. Hillary Clinton the prospect of major rewards.
One of the most inviting is the near certainty that the Obama campaign would agree to pay back the $11.4 million she has loaned her own bid, along with an estimated $10 million to $15 million in unpaid campaign expenses.
It’s a good thing considering how much they make and that their taxes are getting ready to go up. Plus, money is getting tight with them.
The Clintons have made a total of $109 million since Bill Clinton left the White House in January 2001. This year, however, he has had to cut back on his hugely lucrative speech-making, and sources close to the Clintons say they are not in a financial position to keep investing millions into her bid.
In addition, Democrats, both those who are loyal and those who are opposed to her campaign, say the odds of her winning a top leadership spot in the Senate would improve dramatically if she gracefully conceded now.
But, this part made no sense, as I don’t remember things this way.
If she leaves the stage gracefully, as Gore did in 2000….
Whaaaaaat?
May 8th, 2008 at 9:47 am
And, it must be a disappointment to Bill Clinton that he may not have a chance to slip into the White House to use this new product:
“HAVANA: Cuba’s stogie-rolling king Jose Castelar…has teamed up with five assistants, using nearly 93 pounds of top-quality tobacco to assemble a 98-foot cigar.”
If he chooses to defile the Oval Office, why not go all out?
May 8th, 2008 at 11:47 am
“Bill Clinton could probably not become SoS as it would place him in line for the presidency and he could not legally serve.”
Um … “ineligible to be president” isn’t automatically “ineligible for a position in the line of succesion.”
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/3/19.html#e
The Bush administration has Chao (Labor) and Guttierez (Commerce) both ineligible to be Acting President because they were naturalized, not born, citizens of the U.S. You just skip over the ones that don’t work, legally.
It’s funny that the most recent succession list has Homeland Security wa-a-a-ay down at the bottom. You’d think any event that wiped out the top four or five U.S. official would be some catastrophe that would leave Homeland Security as just about the only functioning organ of government. Oh, except … it doesn’t function as an organ of government anyway. I forgot. Scratch that, sorry.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
“It’s funny that the most recent succession list has Homeland Security wa-a-a-ay down at the bottom.”
Doesn’t the order have to do with when the position was created?
May 9th, 2008 at 5:22 am
Who was Bernie Ward supporting for President before he lost his right to vote?
“Bernie Ward, the most prominent liberal voice on Bay Area talk radio for more than two decades, admitted Thursday to distribution of child pornography by e-mail in a plea deal that will send him to federal prison for at least five years. …After the priesthood, Ward worked as a schoolteacher, served as legislative assistant for then-Rep. Barbara Boxer for three years and was hired by KGO in 1985.”
I guess he did it “for the children.”
May 9th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Clinton still has some fight left. It’s Just a Flesh Wound – Obama vs. Hillary
May 9th, 2008 at 6:38 am
Whereas Vito Fossella, just wanted to make children outside of his marriage for this supporter of the Defense of Marriage Act.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Me: “Notice how the color of Hillary’s pantsuits have changed as her support base shifted?â€
Bob: “I think it was just the change of the seasons- muted tones in winter and bright colors in spring.”
Oh.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Funny…Randy tries to smear Republicans in his effort to provide cover for pedophiles.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Nice try, Woody…but explain how RP was providing cover, exactly.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Jim, I mentioned the sex crimes of a well-known pedophile and Randy tries to immediately divert the discussion to an unfaithful husband, as though there is some parallel or that is worse.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Woody,
I’m not trying to provide cover for anyone. You just live in a glass house.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Ah, just another attempt, Randy. One was serious enough to be sentenced to federal prison while the other, whom I have never defended, was not. Let’s drop it out of respect for Marc and before you get further exposed–only figuratively, hopefully.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Woody,
BBetter yet: you brought it up. Perhaps in the future you should employ some more self-control and stay on topic.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I figured that someone smart wouldn’t take the bait. I guess I was right.
May 9th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Someone questioned why Dept. of Homeland Security is low on the succession pole. I think it’s because the current secretary is Jewish.
May 9th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
While I’m being inappropriate….That picture of Hillary looks like her minstrel show tribute to hard working Americans, and by that of course she means white people.
May 9th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I figured that someone smart wouldn’t take the bait. I guess I was right.
[crickets chirping rain falling]
May 9th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
The party leaders need to go and talk reality with Hillary.
I’m thinking if they could promise to let her leave on the Presidential helicopter, she would agree.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Like the GOP did for Nixon.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
But, only make the promise good for half the trip and charge her for the other half and to land–like they did Nixon.
Or, just give her a hotel room with Janet Reno for the night.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Doesn’t she look like a white minstrel in that photo:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/blackandwhim/blackandwhimIMAGE/black%26whim.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/blackandwhim/blackandwhim.htm&h=242&w=300&sz=37&tbnid=MGlPYYoT9PEJ:&tbnh=94&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dminstrel%2Bshow&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=1&ct=image&cd=2
March 1st, 2009 at 11:41 pm
I’m thinking if they could promise to let her leave on the Presidential helicopter, she would agree.