The Biden-Hillary Swap
This just in from Andy Ostroy.
But ever since Sen. John McCain added plucky Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to his ticket, the old adage nice guys finish last is beginning to take on new meaning in this year’s presidential contest. It’s time to dump Biden and replace him with Sen. Hillary Clinton. I don’t care how it’s done. Campaign chief David Axelrod can figure that out. And the sooner the better. Because I’m starting to think that if Team-Obama doesn’t do something dramatic fast, it’s gonna lose this election.
Ok, first of all… “plucky?” We can’t do better than “plucky” for Palin? You’re only two or three letters away from “perky” and that would have brought the minions of Satan down upon your head. But to the suggestion at hand, I do have to wonder what sort of madness has crept over the fences at the Ostroy ranch. Hindsight being 20-20 and all, I’m sure there are more than a few people on Team Obama who now wish that they had gone with Hillary. But is that even profitable regret? Let’s face it, if Obama had given the nod to Clinton then John McCain probably wouldn’t have picked Palin and they would be dealing with an entirely different set of regrets right now
Ostroy poo-poos the idea that replacing Biden at this late date would be political suicide, but I find that hard to imagine. Of course, it would make all of those Obama / Biden 2008 bumper stickers worth a pretty penny on the political memorabilia market in a few years. No, I think that Obama is stuck with his choice at this point and is going to have to figure out how to counterpunch out of the corner.
10 Responses to “The Biden-Hillary Swap”
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No, he's not stuck at this point. For instance if Biden were, God forbid, to die or to be critically ill, or otherwise unfit for office, he could step down and allow Hillary to step in.
An easy win would follow. Simple as that.
Biden is kind of an older gent. Maybe it's time for him to check in with his physician to see if his old frame is really up to the task. I understand he's had some bleeding issues or some such? Stress of that office can surely exacerbate that to a critical level.
If the goal is to ensure that Obama looks like he is panicking; plays an even worse 'gender card' than McCain did; say 'one of my most important, key decisions of the entire campaign was fatally flawed, but trust me, I have great judgment'; saddle him with someone that will suck all the good media air away from him; likely expose him to yet more Clintonesque scandals from good ol' Bill; and flat out cost him the election, then this is a BRILLIANT idea.
Nope, you're wrong. For all the fallout of doing “the switch” Obama in the end (and that's the ONLY THING WORTH THINKING ABOUT) would rake in those 18 million votes that would put him on easy street.
Read the whole article and not just the blip from the link above. You'll see a fine argument why your argument is a moot point. Bill isn't scandalous. With his all-time record of the best handling of US economy under his belt, nobody gives a fig if he, like most of the men accusing him, has had an extramarital sexual contact.
When I'm watching banks tumble, whole blocks getting foreclosed on and the price of milk and gas double every six months, I could CARE LESS what Bill Clinton did with whatever hired GOP-whore. We're in trouble and the tabloid focus is dead. We are on to bigger and better things.
Biden can step down for health issues. Obama comes out clean and “unpanicky” looking. Hillary steps in. We slaughter McCain in the polls this Fall, whereas now we surely will lose.
It isn't rocket science..
It's too late. Sorry, Sil. Sammy and Dean-o make the perfect pair, appealing to the emotion that is the staple of libs and Dems. They really do need to try their hand at comedy on stage, each holding a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, wearing white evening jackets with lame'.
Austin Roth:
much like McCain's crap-shoot play to the bases pick rather than pick a VP based on good governance/experience.
btw hope you didn't get hit too hard by Ike.
Well, it provided a very strong short-term lift for McCain, but there are weeks to go and see if it is a net positive come election day. I am still of the opinion that it was not a good pick in the long run, but she has dine more for his campagn than I ever imagined possible. Kind of a statement on the sorry state of politicts in general.
I still say Obama swapping for Clinton (which I forgot to add may lead to Michelle slapping the crap out of Obama) would smack of panic worse than the Palin selection.
last – thanks for asking, but Ike turned right just after landfall, and Austin only got a bit of wind, and no rain at all. We have focused as a community on helping out those who have been impacted so severely.
good to hear. We had a notice on Friday that the Applecare campus in Austin was going to close early in anticipation. Imagine Dell and others did the same thing.
I have noticed his bump has decreased post-convention/pick. RCP has him at 1.5 up, which is down from the +4 or so he had after the RNC. I think the more Palin's tires get kicked the more people realize that the wash job and clear coat aren't convincing enough once you notice the odometer's been played with.
This would be one of the craziest elections in the history of American politics, and this move could either carry Obama to an easier victory or completely explode in his face. Yes, it would get back SOME of Hillary's 18 million supporters (though not all of them–the type of Hillary supporters who would defect because of Palin in the first place are not the doctrainaire liberal types, and some of them are smitten by Palin herself, not just the idea of a woman on the ticket, so some of them may be lost for good). But the biggest thing this would do is alienate every single undecided voter in the nation. Because no one would believe the “health reasons” thing unless he got his doctor to falsify records, and if you don't think that would be exposed, you're crazy. Everyone would see through the scheme, and it would make Obama look incredibly wishy-washy. So it'll all come down to this simple question: are there more undecided voters than there are Hillary supporters? If yes, this plan would explode in his face. If not there's a chance it could work, but again, it's taking a huge risk. I'll just give one other point. The only time in history that a candidate has replaced his running mate midstream was McGovern in '72, and look what happened. An election that he seemed to have a good chance at winning due to the widespread anti-war sentiment turned into a 47 million to 29 million popular and 520 to 17 electoral whitewashing. Obama might want to look at that too.