Sen. Barack Obama is the presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee. Now that this part of the race has been settled the question becomes, “who will be named as Obama’s running mate?” If Clinton and her supporters have a say, she should be on the ticket one way or another and since she isn’t the nominee, she deserves to be the Vice Presidential candidate as she has graciously offered her services for the position for the sake of the party.
Before things got totally preposterous, elementary and rank, I thought an Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama ticket would be great.
Then reality set in and the steep slope of Clinton’s downfall began. For every reason that someone can argue for an Obama/Clinton ticket, there are five times as many reasons not to go there. This list could be endless, but I’ll try to keep mine short and simple by stating the obvious or should be obvious.
Clinton is the epitome of a polarizing figure:
While Obama’s campaign was overwhelmingly successful because of his all-encompassing group of supporters; Clinton, her husband and followers were busy making divides. Sen. Clinton made a point of saying that Sen. Obama lacked support from “working, hard-working Americans, white Americans” but how “whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting [her].”
She, President Clinton and a number of her supporters have tried to make race a forefront issue several times. Supporters like Harriet Christian who called Obama an “inadequate black man” and said that she will vote for McCain because the Democratic Party not awarding Clinton all delegates from Michigan disenfranchised her, a New Yorker, can’t be much of an asset.
She believes, or at least has stated that Obama doesn’t have what it takes to be President:
She’s actually gone as far as aligning herself with McCain by saying “I think you'll be able to imagine many things Senator McCain will be able to say….He’s never been the president, but he will put forth his lifetime of experience. I will put forth my lifetime of experience. Senator Obama will put forth a speech he made in 2002.” It doesn’t make much sense to have someone run on your ticket when they’ve implied that your opponent is a better candidate than you.
The Clinton machine is on its way to the chop shop:
It took less than a year to tear down what took decades to create. Let’s face it, today’s Clinton’s aren’t the Clinton’s many Americans grew to love, respect and appreciate. Despite impeachment, Bill Clinton was one of the most popular Presidents in recent history and his strong, determined wife was, though not as liked at times, just as respected. The battle-wounded Clinton legacy is in tatters. Many believed that it would take something extraordinary for Clinton not to become our next President. Well, two extraordinary things happened: Barack Obama and a series of events that will be textbook examples of what not to do in a campaign.
Clinton is trying to force her way onto the ticket:
If Sen. Obama is going to prove himself as a strong leader, he cannot be forced to add Hillary Clinton to his ticket. Trying to force someone to pick you up as Vice President, isn’t the best way to show that you are the best person for the top supporting role in an administration. If she’s trying to tell him what to do now without much of a leg to stand on, can you imagine what would happen if they were in the White House together? Clinton supporter and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell summed it up nicely to NY1 News “There's no bargaining. You don't bargain with the presidential nominee. Even if you're Hillary Clinton and you have 18 million votes, you don't bargain.”
President Clinton:
He was once an asset but now he’s more of an Achilles’ heel. One of President Clinton’s largest groups of supporters came from the African-American community. But since he tried to discredit Obama’s accomplishments by bringing up race and then accusing the Obama campaign of forcing him (Clinton) to use the race card, his popularity with blacks has dropped. Actually, a number of Bill Clinton’s comments have been serious blunders in his wife’s campaign. He doesn’t have the fanfare he had not long ago; and instead of creating support for his wife, he’s been creating negative headlines for him and her.
People don’t like her:
A number of people voted for Obama because he is seen as the “anti-Clinton/anti-Bush.” They believe that he represents all the good the Clinton’s lack yet he’s void of all of their negative aspects. If not being a Clinton was one of Obama’s more appreciated assets, it wouldn’t be in his best interest to try to give America another dose of them.
She is short on humility and reality:
When it became quite apparent that Obama would win his party’s nomination, Clinton gave a speech. She didn’t concede, she didn’t endorse Obama, she didn’t even acknowledge him. But rather, she said,
“…I understand that a lot of people are asking, what does Hillary want? …I want the nearly 18 million Americans who voted for me to be respected, to be heard and no longer to be invisible. ...this has always been your campaign, so to the 18 million people who voted for me and to our many other supporters out there…I want to hear from you. I hope you'll go to my website...and share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can. …In the coming days, I’ll be consulting with supporters and party leaders to determine how to move forward with the best interests of our party and our country guiding my way.”
She wants the voice of her 18 million voters heard? They were heard when the votes were counted. The votes aren’t invisible because she and her supporters keep bringing them up and they were counted, that’s how she knows there are 18 million of them. She wants to hear from her supporters and meet with party leaders to determine what she should do next. Is she serious? Why can’t she just accept that she lost her bid fair and square and move on to supporting Obama so that her party can win in the Fall?
Sen. Robert Kennedy:
If nothing else resonates as to why Sen. Clinton should not be on Obama’s ticket, this reason eclipses any argument for or against that happening. This month marks the 40th anniversary of Sen. Kennedy’s assassination. While campaigning in California, he was struck down while leaving a rally on his behalf. A couple of weeks ago, Sen. Clinton brought up Kennedy’s untimely death when she explained why she should continue to run although numerically, she had no chance of winning. If something were to happen to the President, the Vice President would take over the job. It can’t be in Obama’s best interest to have someone who, if only subliminally, conjures up assassination plots when that person would be the one to benefit from such a tragedy.
Katrina L. Rogers is a member of The Times Community Board. Send comments by e-mail to shreveportopinion@gannett.com.
