- Aug 10, 2006
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How to avoid a Democratic disaster
By Mario M. Cuomo
March 29, 2008
A DEMOCRATIC disaster in the November election looms, but it can be avoided by a demonstration of true leadership by the two candidates.
By the end of the primary process, no matter how robust the turnout appears, less than half of all Democratic voters will have expressed their preference. And because the primaries will have extended over such a long period, some voters will have changed their preference by the convention in August. Other entanglements also threaten the possibility of a selection at the convention that would be supported by both constituencies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Two states with significant Democratic strength - Florida and Michigan - may be denied votes, and the specific role of the superdelegates may become a matter of possibly irresolvable contentiousness.
Meanwhile the Democrats come closer to the end of the primary process without a clear choice for president, with alienation between their candidates growing, while the Republican candidate John McCain gathers strength unmolested within his own party and comforted by the squabbling among Democrats.
Obama argues that he has won more delegates, more states, and more popular votes in the primaries. He also argues that the superdelegates should feel "morally obligated" to vote for the winner of the delegate count in the primaries because that would be the "democratic thing" to do.
The Clinton forces argue that the Democratic National Committee should find a way to count Florida and Michigan, which Clinton won, and should remind the candidates that the superdelegates were created to override previous primary votes if they believed it was necessary to get the nominee most likely to win the election. Recent polls of all Democrats show the two leaders virtually tied and indicate Clinton is more likely than Obama to win the states the Democrats must take in order to succeed.
No matter how all these challenging questions are resolved, the increasing contentiousness has left the two candidates - and more importantly their distinct constituencies - badly alienated. Polls show that if the battle continues to a conclusion at the convention, a significant portion of the constituency supporting the loser will refuse to vote Democratic in November. That could cost the Democrats the election and bring back "Bushism," assuring the continuance of the tragic Iraq war indefinitely.
Whose fault would that be?
The Democrats'.
Who can solve the problem?
Obama and Clinton can - by putting aside personal irritations, and to some extent personal aspirations, and agreeing to end the hostilities and form a ticket that offers both of them, a candidate for president and a candidate for vice president who is clearly good enough to serve as president, should the occasion arise. That candidate for vice president would also have a good chance of being elected president eight years from now because neither of the two would be too old in 2016. If they are not capable of doing that, the two could announce they will complete the primary schedule and convention with the winner becoming candidate for president and the other agreeing to be a candidate for vice president, thereby mollifying to some extent the constituency of the candidate who was not chosen as the nominee for president.
Think of it, over the next eight years we could elect both the first woman and the first African-American to become president. That's not a dream: It's a plausible, achievable, glorious possibility - if our two remaining candidates have the personal strength and wisdom to make it happen. The joint statement announcing their agreement would rock the nation and resound across the globe - sweeter than any political poetry; smarter and more meaningful than any tightly intelligent political prose.
If, on the other hand, the candidates refuse to work out a way to keep both constituencies firmly in the Democratic camp for the general election, the 2008 primary may be the story of a painfully botched grand opportunity to return our nation to the upward path, and leave us mired in Iraq and government mediocrity.
http://www.boston.com/news/nat...a_democratic_disaster/
Interesting proposal by former Gov. Mario Cuomo.
So far his proposal has been rejected by both the Obama and Clinton campaign.
What are your opinions on the so called "dream" ticket being mentioned in the media?
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04/25/08
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200..._el_pr/pelosi_campaign
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton shouldn't share the Democratic presidential ticket unless they really want to.
"No, I don't think it's a good idea," Pelosi said in an interview with CNN talk show host Larry King aired Thursday night.
"I think first of all the candidate, whoever he or she may be, should choose his or her own vice presidential candidate," said Pelosi, who will chair the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. "I think that's appropriate. That's where you would see the comfort level on not only how to run, but how to govern the country.
"And there's plenty of talent to go around to draw upon for a good, strong ticket. I'm not one of those who thinks that's a good ticket."
But Pelosi added that if Clinton and Obama "think that it's a good ticket, maybe it is. But I don't think that we should thrust the vice presidential choice onto the presidential nominee. That's her or his decision to make."
Pelosi also said she agrees with Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean that the nomination should be settled before the national convention.
"I don't want a brokered convention. I think there's too short a time ? maybe just about eight weeks between the end of the convention and the election. And I don't think that's enough time to bring everyone together," Pelosi said.
"I do think that the campaigns have to work their way through this, that we should have all the elections, let the people speak and then we'll find out who our nominee is."
The last Democratic primaries are June 3 in Montana and South Dakota.
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05/08/08
http://www.reuters.com/article.../idUSN0841282220080508
Democrat Barack Obama on Thursday did not rule out selecting rival Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate if he ultimately defeats her in a race in which he has an almost insurmountable lead.
"There's no doubt that she's qualified to be vice president, there's no doubt she's qualified to be president," Obama told NBC News.
In a CNN interview, he said he had not wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination, but when he does, he will start going through the process of selecting a running mate.
"She is tireless, she is smart. She is capable. And so obviously she'd be on anybody's short list to be a potential vice presidential candidate," said Obama, who inched closer to winning the nomination by routing Clinton in North Carolina and almost defeating her in Indiana on Tuesday.
Some Democrats are saying Obama and Clinton would be a formidable team against Republican John McCain in the race to the November election.
According to a CBS News/New York Times poll released last week, a majority of both Obama and Clinton voters say they would favor a so-called "Dream Ticket" involving both candidates.
The Clinton campaign has deflected such talk. Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson told reporters on Wednesday that it was premature to discuss such a ticket and he had not heard her express any interest in the vice presidency.