ROBERT REICH: Get Ready For An Obama-Clinton Presidential Ticket

[downwardly_mobile]

http://www.businessinsider.com/my-political-prediction-for-2012-its-obama-clinton-2011-12

December 28, 2011 --

"My political prediction for 2012 (based on absolutely no inside information): Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden swap places. Biden becomes Secretary of State — a position he’s apparently coveted for years. And Hillary Clinton, Vice President.

So the Democratic ticket for 2012 is Obama-Clinton.

Why do I say this? Because Obama needs to stir the passions and enthusiasms of a Democratic base that’s been disillusioned with his cave-ins to regressive Republicans. Hillary Clinton on the ticket can do that."

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I know Hillaryphobes will be ready to throw Mr. Reich under the bus for his prediction, but it seems to make a lot of sense to me, especially considering the recent Gallup Poll that found President Obama and Hillary Clinton to be the two most admired people around:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101411140

When it comes to the 2012 Vice-Presidential nomination, it's beginning to look more and more as though Hillary may just be - Madame Inevitable!

[BootinUp]

1. Interesting idea. nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. Dunno about this. Hillary is a good SOS

Biden is a good VP.

I'm not confident that they're good fits for their alternate positions.

[liberal N proud]

3. Hillary is in her element as Secretary of State

VP would be a much slower paced job. She haas to be about burned out with all the travel.

[Auggie]

61. I'll bet it's the travel ...

other SOSs have hinted at the same thing

[Modern_Matthew]

4. Damn. How much farther to the right do they want to move this administration? nt

[CakeGrrl]

34. "They" don't. Obama asked Biden to run again and he is. Reich is in Dreamland.

[Ilsa]

5. I hope they work this out.

She's been fantastic as SoS. She would be wonderful as VP. I'd love to see her in that office.

[BootinUp]

7. Might just be the ticket that can't be beat. nt

[SixthSense]

6. there's a reason he didn't pick her the first time around

he wanted to live to have a second time around

it's only sort of a joke, she really is quite notorious for being ruthless in pursuit of things that she wants very much

[BootinUp]

8. Nice.

[Dan]

25. maybe, but I loves her...

[Frances]

29. I have never thought of Hilary as ruthless

Intelligent, yes. Determined yes. But ruthless, no.

[sufrommich]

41. She's no more "notorious for being ruthless"

than any other(male) politician and inferring that Obama wants to "live to have a second time around" is freeper bullshit.

[SixthSense]

44. is that so?

type the words "hillary" and "ambition" into that search bar to your upper right and you will find a great many people who perceive her otherwise

[sufrommich]

53. So what? So there are other DUers like you

who tut-tut Hillary for being "too ambitious". What does Hillary being ambitious have to do with anything you posted? You believe her ambitions may put Obama's life in jeopardy?

[SixthSense]

55. I'm just pointing out that

"unusually strong ambition" is very much a quality that you don't want in a person who gets your job if you die

[sufrommich]

57. Like I said, freeper bullshit. Every male

politician at that level is as ambitious as Hillary is, she has no" unusually strong ambitions".Biden has run for president twice and yet most democrats realize he's not a danger to the president. Maybe that Freeper story about Vince Foster has you confused or maybe you just believe bullshit.

[NCTraveler]

62. Let me guess...

Obama and Emanuel are ambitious and driven. Hillary is ruthless. Got it.

[bluestateguy]

9. When this prediction fails to materialize I'm sure Reich will deny ever saying it

Much like other pundits do.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

10. That ridiculous. No way is that going to happen.

Why would Hillary want to be Vice President? She'll retire from politics at the end of next year.

[DonCoquixote]

11. You realize if this happens

It will give the left a big "F__K you!"..Yes, this would be machiavellian, but it could backfire hard, as it would load nader for bear.

[BootinUp]

12. lol!

Nader couldn't run a campaign at this point that would even be worth talking about. Bring it Ralphie.

[sellitman]

13. Biden's been a great VP

Don't fix what's not broken.

[downwardly_mobile]

17. He may have been a good VP,

but I don't think he adds anything at all to a re-election campaign. Hillary would certainly energize her old supporters, many women, and many of the members of the non-iPad-owning classes that she seemed to connect with in 2008.

[Old and In the Way]

20. personally, I could see where Joe and Hillary would like this swap.

Joe moving to SecState is a lot higher profile and a nice cap to his career, especially if he isn't interested in running for POTUS in 2016. Hillary, on the other hand, would certainly benefit from the move if she was indeed serious with running in 2016. If it happens, I think we know Hillary will be in the running in 2016.

[CakeGrrl]

33. If her supporters don't have enough motivation to keep out the GOP

if she's not on the ticket, they're not really committed to the Dem cause. Pretty fair weather attitude, IMO.

[sellitman]

40. We don't need to piss off the left any more than we already have

She is to the right of BO across the board. She would piss off too many people. Do you not remember how she conducted herself the last time around? She was a disgrace.

If the cast of loons on the right isn't enough to motivate the voters to vote for BO nothing will.

[Politicalboi]

14. I think this ticket would be a good one

Considering all the anti abortion, anti women issues that are popping up all over. And it would line her up for 2016.

[jefferson_dem]

15. Don't think it will happen BUT I would totally love life it it did...

All due respect to Joe (I love you, man) but Hillary's the one.

[TheWraith]

18. NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN!

For fuck's sake: Clinton has VERY CLEARLY said she will be remaining Secretary of State, after which she plans to retire from holding public office.

Obama has VERY CLEARLY said that Joe Biden is going to be his running mate in 2012.

Any other speculations, plans, or beliefs, have about as much basis as fantasy football.

[BootinUp]

19. We can fantasize about it if we want to! You can't stop us! LaLaLaLaLaLa!!!! I can't hear You!!!!!!!

[downwardly_mobile]

22. Well, it keeps coming up because well-placed people in the know keep speculating on it --

this time, it's Robert Reich.

In fact, the Clinton-Biden job-switching idea kind of seems like a no-brainer -- for one thing, the Secretary of State position becomes quite tiring due to all the travelling required. Hillary must be close to burnt out on it at this point, while Biden, who always had a great interest in foreign policy, is tanned, rested and ready for it.

Plus, as good a VP as Biden may have been, he adds nothing to a general election campaign: Hillary does. She'll galvanize her old supporters, many women, and many average-income Democrats.

I suspect that Romney will be the Republican nominee, and that the 2012 Presidential Election will be a close one - certainly closer than 2008. Obama will need every bit of advantage he can get, and putting Hillary on the ticket would certainly advantage him. I suspect that many of the people who are really opposed to the idea are the "sore winners" of 2008 who can't let go of the Primary Wars.

[JTFrog]

46. It is very obvious who can't let go of the Primary Wars.

I don't think this ends the way you think it does.

[krawhitham]

21. That is about the only thing he can do to lose my vote

I can not vote for Hillary

[AlbertCat]

23. What the hell... that'd be just hunky dory...

But who I'm really worried about are his to-be advisors and cabinet!

He can't be re-elected so maybe he'll pick some people to the left of Goldman Sachs this time

[A-Schwarzenegger]

24. "Madame Inevitable!"

I could swear I heard that somewhere before...

[CakeGrrl]

32. Then she can run in 2016 no problem (but she said she's not interested).

Carter was not anyone's VP. Bill Clinton was not anyone's VP.

Not sure why she has to be primed in the VP role to go after the 2016 Presidency.

But this is all moot. For those who missed the news months ago, Obama asked Biden to be his VP again and Biden accepted, damn the approval polls.

[Lil Missy]

26. Oh bullshit. No chance at all that will happen. n/t

[TygrBright]

27. I've been predicting this since shortly after the 2008 election. n/t

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

28. I don't understand this guy. He left the Clinton administration because they were DLC Centrists.

Now, he's on the bus with Hillary and why? She's no liberal. Robert is a true liberal. And why do people insist on dissing Joe Biden? He has been an exceptional VP and will be the Vice Presidential candidate in 2012!!!!

Obama/Biden 2012!!!!!

[MilesColtrane]

30. Obama needs to garner votes from the middle (swingers) and from disaffected 2008 voters.

I don't see how Hillary, as the underticket, accomplishes either of these goals.

[CakeGrrl]

31. Obama and Biden have to be laughing at this.

Apparently when you ask your VP to run again and he accepts, it doesn't matter to the dreamers.

[Ichingcarpenter]

35. Must of been the leftover egg-nog

and all the grandkids playing in his house when he wrote this.

[Owlet]

36. Funny how attitudes change here

This story was posted by Demeter awhile back and folks went apeshit.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x639822

True, a lot of the venom was directed at Pat Caddell, but the speculation on the Obama-Clinton ticket was equally negative. Apparently we can now have a quiet discussion about the 2012 ticket with the blessing of Robert Reich.

[treestar]

37. Why would Hillary passion-itize the "base."??????

Hillary is not that different from Obama. The base would require Elizabeth Warren or some pundit-reporter that generally trashes the President.

[99th_Monkey]

38. It does make a certain amount of sense

from stand point of keeping Dems in the WH in forseeable future.

I'll give it that.

[Puzzledtraveller]

39. Obama was one of the few

Presidential candidates with squeaky clean background going in to a presidential election depsite the rights attempts at making mountains where there were never any mole hills. We need to keep it that way because Biden is already there, nothing new to pick apart.

[karynnj]

49. Actually, it is harder to get cleaner than Al Gore and John Kerry

Both had very long careers with no scandals of any kind. The Republicans, in both cases, had to make up attacks.

In Kerry's case, his speaking out before Congress on the Vietnam War was honorable and commendable. His service record was completely unimpeachable - he was a war hero in the best sense of the words.

Gore was selected by Clinton partly because of his "eagle scout" background. Earlier than that, Carter had a very clean background - and so did both Mondale and Dukakis. I would say that the NORM is that Democratic nominees had pretty squeaky clean reputations.

[mmonk]

42. This is him dreaming maybe of a job again.

Everyone is in place still but him.

[spanone]

43. silly silly silly

[JTFrog]

45. Lol.

That is all.

[Jamastiene]

47. Reich is full of it.

Not happening. He's just plain wrong.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

48. "(based on absolutely no inside information)"

H.T.

[gkhouston]

51. That's almost as good as "some people say" when it comes to reliability. n/t

[gkhouston]

50. Great way to stir up the mouth-breathers who still hate anything named Clinton

and further alienate any Hillary-is-the-only-one folks left over from 2008. It's a lose-lose!!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

52. Hell, the only reason I considered voting for Obama was that he wasn't a Clinton.

[book_worm]

54. Sorry, Mr. Reich--obviously you don't know Barack Obama, who will NOT throw Joe Biden to the wolves

he is a loyal man who will stand by his VP. Also, there is no reason to do so. Obama has consistently led the polls among Dems for president. He ties or beats all of the GOP candidates and so there is no reason to take such an extreme step which could back fire on him as well.

[downwardly_mobile]

58. Numbers are out today which argue against your confidence --

1) Gallup Daily Tracking -- yesterday, Gingrich fell to a tie with Romney for the Republican nomination at 25% each. Today, Romney has risen to 27% while Gingrich has fallen to 23%. It looks more and more as though the Republicans will muddle through and nominate the only candidate they have that could plausibly beat Obama in November.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/election.aspx

2) Rasmussen -- a poll out today finds Romney at 45% and Obama at 39% for the General Election. Now I know as Democrats, we are not exactly true-believing Rasmufarians, but this latest poll only accentuates the fact that Romney vs. Obama polling generally has shown the contest to be up in the air. Obama needs all the help he can get to put this one away.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/2012_presidential_matchups

3) Intrade -- according to the Intrade markets, Romney now has a 75.6% chance of winning the Republican nomination while Obama has a 51.9% chance of winning the General Election. Again, Obama's likely opponent will be Romney, and the General Election will be a close-run thing.

http://www.intrade.com/v4/markets/contract/?contractId=652757
http://www.intrade.com/v4/markets/contract/?contractId=743474

[hifiguy]

56. I could see this and it isn't a terrible idea

politically speaking.

It has been rumored for years that Joe Biden would love to be SoS, and I have to imagine that the insane amount of traveling HRC has done in that position gets to be burdensome after a while.

[anAustralianobserver]

59. If it looks and quacks like a trial balloon/meme seed then it could well be.

Or maybe it's part of a plan to prime her for another position.

The hard part for me to believe is that Reich has "absolutely" no info and would annoy the Clintons with this without communicating with them.

Plus he said this a month or two ago as well.

Also, Big Polling is rigged intermittently. Thank you.

[JohnWxy]

60. this makes sense in terms of making Obama more appealing to Democrats. although, what having a

Democrat for a Vice-Presidential candidate does for moderate Republican, Obama, I don't know. But that's how political merchandising goes.

[magical thyme]

63. Hillary is a warmonger.

Early on when Obama was deciding what to do in Afghanistan, there were 2 opposing factions advising him.

Hillary and a General (Patraeus? don't remember for sure) wanted full scale war, all-in, all-out surge.

Biden and Gates wanted a streamlined, narrowed focus on al Qaeda.

[davidpdx]

64. I normally like Reich, but he's sold out on this one

I hope this is nothing more then a dumb rumor. Obama's numbers are starting to improve. Making such a move would make him look weak like he is in trouble. The other factor is the election is still 10 months out and the nominee for the Republican party is still unclear (yes, I tend to agree it will probably be Mittens, but you never know). Suggesting this also implies that Obama won't be able to win the so-called "white working class" vote which was a line used in the 2008 primaries. I'm defriending Reich on Facebook