Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?- Updated

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

Exactly. And here's what really gets me, particularly with all the talk about how well Hillary is doing with certain segments of the electorate and her meaningless wins after the fact when it really doesn't matter and she's running against a name on the ballot in WV, KY, PR, etc. For nearly two months Obama has had two people campaigning against him, Hillary and McCain, and he's been running only against McCain.

No one has really been running against Hillary. With no opposition, she's been running up some big scores late - so did Jerry Brown against Bill. Had the situation been reversed, had she been ahead and Obama was still campaigning against her, or had she been the presumptive nominee and McCain had been running against her, she'd be dead by a thousand cuts now as her old baggage, and quite a bit of newer baggage from the Clinton Foundation fundraising and Bill's speeches and god knows what else would be wrapped around her neck. She'd be LUCKY to be as strong a candidate against McCain as Obama is now, and all this talk about how she wins swing states and her appeal to certain demographics would simply not be taking place - she's only grown strong in a vacuum, and the instant the air gets in, I think she'd completely deflate - her supposed strengths are much an illusion based on the fact that no one has been running against her (and the last time Obama did, in Indiana, and NC, he did more than he needed to do).

What is remarkable is that Obama has remained as strong a candidate as he is while fighting on two fronts - it's like when Bill and Perot piled on Bush 41 - he couldn't fight with a sword in each hand. When it soon settles to Obama vs. McCain, watch the numbers change (which they always have). Instead of talk about how weak and damaged he might be, a more accurate measure may be that he just beat down the Clinton dynasty - no small feat - and took the party away from them at the same time. Anybody who can do that is a formidable candidate in November.

That's why adding Hillary to the ticket would be a huge mistake. The Republicans will run against her and Bill (just as Obama is running against Bush) and she will drag him down and leave his campaign constantly on the defensive as the gains that supposedly come with her prove to be illusory.

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

You need to read and watch the news more.

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

I would disagree that Obama hasn't been running against Hillary. Usually at this point of the primaries, people just come out in droves to vote for the person who is winning.

I'm not a fan of Hillary on any level, but what she's done the last few months is pretty damn impressive.

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

February covered much of BO's demo. Thus, the lengthy winning streak.

Many of the more recent pieces have been in HRC's wheelhouse . . . that, and
women crawling over ground glass to make sure their votes are counted -- and to register just how PO'd they are.

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

He made one stop in West Virginia, I'm not sure he ever actually got to Kentucky -- the day before he was in D.C. and Iowa.

He barely paid any attention to Puerto Rico.

He conceded those primaries to her -- and focused on McCain.

She ran up big scores because she was running almost unopposed in those states.

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

He basically had it wrapped it in early April 1992.

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?


I'm amazed at how split the Democrats are-- and how clearly defined it is.

On one side, we've got Hispanics/Appalachian/blue-collar types.

On the other side, we've got African Americans/Internet users.

I'm not at all convinced he can afford to cast her off.

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

I agree. If I'm him, I'd be really careful about declaring victory too early as well.

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

I'm not saying it will be a Reagan '84- or Roosevelt '36-type shellacking but the Democratic candidate will win this election going away.

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

I read something in a couple of different newspapers/web sites, that Obama is actually doing as good as Kerry with the whole "white, blue-collar, blah-blah-blah" voter. (I'm too lazy to find those article again.)

Yes, Kerry lost, but the point is Obama is not tanking as bad as people make it out to be.

 

Re: Does he have to put her on the ticket to win?

By read, you mean wacko right-wing web sites and forwarded chain e-mails, and by watch you mean FOX.