The win-win of a Obama-Hillary ticket.

[RandySF]

I was very much involved in the Obama side 2008 primary wars, but I never lost my respect for the intellect and hard work of the former New York senator and First Lady. What's more, she is an outstanding Secretary of State. I've followed Joe Biden's career as long as I followed politics, from his first run for president to his tenure as Vice President. I will also be forever grateful that he kept Robert Bork off the Supreme Court. Nothing but respect for the kid from Scranton. But we are heading into a potentially tough presidential campaign and an increasingly perilous time on the world stage. A shuffling of seats might be needed to Joe and Hillary's strengths. Here are the pluses and minuses of a trade in positions for Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

Pluses.
1. Hillary on the ticket could bring in a lot of white, working class voters who voted for her in the 2008 primaries, voted for Obama and might either sit home or vote Republican in 2012.
2. Obama can send her to parts of the country where he might not be as welcome (parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states).
3. Hillary's place guarantees that the Big Dog will go out to campaign for the ticket, raise money for the DNC and mobilize local Democratic organizers in key states.
4. Clinton fundraisers will be more inclined to raise cash for the party.
5. Joe Biden will have an opportunity to leave a lasting, tangible legacy as Secretary of State.
6. Biden's tenure on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will make him well-suited to handle issues facing the Middle East and South Asia.

Minuses:
1. Requires total buy-in from Biden. He is not the kind of guy to hide any unhappiness.
2. Could be seen as a desperate move by the MSM.

[elleng]

1. Please drop it.

[Nye Bevan]

3. Why? The OP has clearly put a lot of thought into this.

I don't think it's very likely, but this is a political discussion board and there would certainly be some advantages to this suggestion, so why not discuss it?

[elleng]

5. I agree its a discussion board,

but I see no advantages to this discussion; another example of Dems shooting ourselves in the foot, imo.

Repugs, due to their idiocy, are handing the Presidential election to us, but we've got a lot of work to do on Congress and Senate. We MUST, imo, regain majority in the House, and retain the Senate, so to be distracted by switching VPs is worse than foolish.

[JDPriestly]

19. I think it is probably a done deal, and I don't think that Joe Biden is very

happy about it. These posts are cropping up all too often on DU. It's as if they are announcing an event, not testing the waters.

[musicblind]

9. I don't know. I don't know that it is the BEST idea. But I don't hate it either.

I respect Hillary a lot, and if she really could secure a large section of Clinton-era democrats thus guaranteeing a victory it might be worth it.

The question to discuss is could she do that, and would she even be needed to do that.

Obama has high approval ratings with democrats as it is. I DO hope Hillary runs in 2016, but I doubt she will.

This is no slam on Biden. The original post is just pondering their strengths being used in different positions.

[Warpy]

2. Give it up

Ms. Clinton said she is looking forward to retirement and is not interested in running this year or ever.

[customerserviceguy]

28. When she ran for the Senate from NY

she was dropping hints that she wasn't interested in running for President, either. I say that she's going to toss her hat in the ring in 2016. If Barack Obama keeps Joe Biden on the ticket, we'll have no heir apparent for that year, and just like Dubya did by keeping Darth, it will be a free-for-all on our side that might not work out too well.

[shraby]

4. Personally, I don't like to see the same surnames on the presidential ticket

year after year after year...Bushes did that, Clintons did that. Enough already. Besides that, there are a lot of people who don't think that highly of the Clintons.
Obama has already said, it's Obama/Biden for 2012.
In 2016 I'd like to see Whitehouse, Warren maybe on the ticket. Both capable, intelligent people.

[Control-Z]

13. When did the Clintons do that? n/t

[shraby]

32. We had a Bill Clinton for president, we had Hilary Clinton as a presidential candidate.

Enough is enough. I'd like to see new blood after Obama's second term. No more Clintons or Bushes or any other surname that has been in the grand ring.

[Control-Z]

38. So, really, it never happened.

There has only ever been one Clinton on a presidential ticket.

"Personally, I don't like to see the same surnames on the presidential ticket year after year after year..."

You really don't like the Clintons, do you.

[boxman15]

6. Clinton as VP and Biden as SoS would be nice, but

Obama and Biden have both said that that's not going to happen. Biden is an excellent VP and that second minus you list would definitely come into play.

[Tx4obama]

7. President Obama has already asked Biden to run with him in 2012 and Joe said: YES.

And Hillary has already said publicly that she will NOT run for elected office in the future.
She wants to retire and then work privately in regards to women's rights issues globally,
and also have time to spend with her grand babies when they arrive

End of story.

[JDPriestly]

20. Good. Tx4Obama.

Where are these posts about Hillary running for VP coming from?

[Tx4obama]

21. Maybe the recent Gallup 'most admired' poll has spurred on the VP talk (?)

Barack Obama is the #1 male, and Hillary Clinton is the #1 female.

The poll was being talked about on TV today.

Here it is: http://www.gallup.com/poll/151790/Barack-Obama-Hillary-Clinton-Again-Top-Admired-List.aspx

[marasinghe]

8. please be careful what you wish for. thoughts have momentum.

and there's the neo-lib econ wizard Robert Reich, already in ecstasy on the sidelines.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/100282853

[CakeGrrl]

10. Obama asked Biden MONTHS ago. Biden accepted. What is the problem with this?

It appears that Robert Reich decided to whip up this idea again after seeing Obama and Clinton top the recent "most admired" poll. So of course, that MUST mean they have to sit on the Dem ticket!

No, it doesn't.

And if the "Big Dog" and other Hillary campers can only be motivated to keep the Dem in office if his wife is on the ticket, then, they aren't really about being Dems, IMO.

Oh, and send Hillary to parts of the U.S. where he "isn't welcome"? WTF???

[MjolnirTime]

11. Not going to happen.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

12. The win-win of Hide Thread.

Makin' me miss the loopy Ron Paul threads. Byebye.

[grantcart]

15. DUzy

[Warren DeMontague]

14. Trying to get in right under the wire for "Goofiest idea of 2011", apparently

Not gonna happen. Nor should it. Completely pointless, desperate-looking, and... did I mention pointless?

[quinnox]

16. I doubt Hillary would go for this but at the same time

there is some merit to the argument presented. I do think it would energize the Dem base and create some excitement that a re-run of Biden never would.

The only way I could see this possibly being attractive to Hillary is she would have a good shot at becoming the first female vice president in history. But who knows if that is enough of a pull for her to go through the process again.

[JDPriestly]

17. I prefer Joe to Hillary.

Hillary can be very harsh and snooty. Joe is much more mellow.

Hillary attracts a lot of resentment from conservatives. Joe doesn't.

I'm happy with Joe Biden. Hillary is a war monger. There is a video of a meeting she had with Code Pink on the Iraq situation apparently prior to the war. Hillary did not handle it at all well.

Of course, Biden would make a better diplomat, but then Hillary a heartbeat away from the presidency is not something I would feel very comfortable with.

I will vote for the Democratic ticket, but I prefer Joe Biden to Hillary for Vice President.

[MADem]

18. It will not happen because she does not want it.

There was a rumor floating around that she and Biden would switch jobs after the next election, but that is all it was--a rumor.

[Tx4obama]

22. Btw, there is a Joe Biden group here on DU3 - link below :)

Joe Biden Group: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1110

[elleng]

29. Thanks for pointing it out, Tx4!

[ellisonz]

23. No. n/t

[RainDog]

24. Russ Feingold would be better, imo.

He aligns with labor and jobs are a big issue now.

Not really interested in voting for Biden after the Obama presidency.

Tired of "name brands" in politics in general: Bush, Clinton, Kennedy, Paul... just say no to political dynasties in the U.S.

[bowens43]

25. We already have a ticket.

This is just silly.

[treestar]

26. Why would it make such a big difference?

How many voters are going to find this to be such a huge change it will make a difference in how they vote?

Only Hillary fanatics.

[juajen]

36. Hillary Clinton got over 18 million votes.

I resent your calling her supporters "Hillary fanatics". We need to respect all democrats, especially ones as valuable and popular as Hillary Rodham Clinton. I personally believe she deserves a rest, but it would be stupid not to realize that she would pull in dems that are not enthusiastic about an Obama ticket. I will say that I am not one of those. I do support Obama/Biden and will vote accordingly. Not to say, however, that I would not support Obama/Clinton if that shakes out. I know of at least two of my republican relatives, that would vote dem if she was on the ticket. Women are angry at the lack of female representation in the VP and Presidential slot. It looks to a lot of us as derogatory toward women, in general. We just never seem to have one good enough, even if she is the most respected woman in the world. Other countries in the world do not seem to have that problem.

[treestar]

37. I'm a woman and I'm not that angry

about there not being a women at the top of the ticket. Most people aren't.

Hillary is just another politician. Plenty of other politicians are just as valuable and popular, including Joe Biden.

[Beacool]

41. "Hillary fanatics" are half of the party or did you choose to forget that point?

Gee.............

[justiceischeap]

27. I think if Obama were going to pick a new VP (which he isn't)

It should be someone electable in 2016. Neither Biden or Clinton would be electable. I hate to sound like an ageist but they're both (Biden/Clinton) too old to run in 2016. Hillary has already said she won't run for President again, so, putting her on the ticket would do no good and I don't think Joe is electable as a President because he failed twice already to get the nomination.

At this point I don't see who the Dems are grooming for 2016.

[ProSense]

30. New rule:

If you're worth more than $10 million, you shouldn't be considered for President or VP.

Of course, this is subject to change.

[cthulu2016]

31. You are right and it is a legitimate topic for discussion

The choice of a VP is a primarily political decision made at the convention.

A president is free to switch running mates at his pleasure. (Like FDR switched Wallace for Truman in 1944)

Putting Hillary on the ticket would garner net positve votes versus the status quo. (The alternate view is so politically uninformed that it's hard to believe anyone would voice it, but hundreds have. And some of the most vociferous are self-proclaimed pragmatists, which is what makes it particularly odd.)

2012 will be a much closer election than 2008 and any net gain of votes is desirable.

Not everything that would gain net votes is desirable, but winning an election is generally better than losing.

Strategic political decisions are always legitimate fodder for a political discussion board.

[JoePhilly]

33. The effort to divide Democrats and depress Dem turnout continues ....

The fact that THIS particular line has been dead for MONTHS does not seem to matter.

Its not happening.

Might as well be discussing what would happen if we cloned FDR and had that clone run in a primary against Obama.

[Whisp]

34. who starts this kind of nonsense?

I was hearing this on MSNBC today too. It's like someone plants a stupid idea, waters it by having a few people repeat it, then and so on, and so on and so on it goes yammer yammer till it makes you want to tear your hair out and eat it.

[Motown_Johnny]

35. Sorry, all the reasons she was not picked the first time around still exist

plus dropping Biden would be seen as admitting a mistake. It is not an option, I don't care what any PUMA dead enders say.

[rustydog]

39. Share what you are smoking

[DefenseLawyer]

40. I guess the Clinton folks never really got over it did they?