« All Political Eyes On Clinton’s Obama Endorsement Tomorrow
John McCain Launches New Blog »



Former Clinton Cabinet Official Reich Urges No On Hillary Clinton For Obama Vice President (UPDATED)

June 6th, 2008
By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

Print Print

OUYTTR.gif

Former Clinton administration Secretary of Labor — and current blogger — Robert Reich has a bit of advice for Democratic presumptive nominee Senator Barack Obama: don’t pick Hillary Clinton to be your Vice President.

Reich points out that just when the American public should be focused on Obama, it’s once again a case of the news focus being on Hillary Clinton — and he warns that this won’t change if she’s selected to be Obama’s Veep.

She has clearly signaled her desire to [be on the ticket], and her surrogates have suggested that for Obama to do otherwise risks alienating her legions of supporters. Put to one side whether this is correct; we have no way of knowing. The more significant reality is this: at the very time when Obama should finally be free to make make his case to the American public for why he should be president, he is engaged in another diversionary and distracting fight with her for the public’s attention.

His point is an interesting one: just as it has evolved that Bill Clinton campaigning has evolved into It All Being About Bill, there is an issue Obama has to face as to whether Hillary Clinton can be counted on if she is on the ticket to it not being All About Hillary. There is after all another teenie factor involved (Barack Obama).

Reich doesn’t see the Clintons changing their modus operandi if Obama selects Hillary to be his Veep:

I have known and admired the Clintons for decades and I have no doubt that Hillary could do an excellent job as Vice President. But this current spectacle illustrates why he should not choose her. Hillary and Bill Clinton are masters at claiming the public limelight even at the expense of larger public purpose. Media attention puts her unflagging ambition center stage and his unbridled (although sometimes misdirected) charm on full display. Were Obama to make her his Vice President, she would turn the tables and make him her President, just as she has turned the tables this week and transformed his remarkable victory into her audacious dare.

Of course, yesterday Hillary Clinton disavowed efforts to pressure Obama to select her. Even so, the speculation and pressure continues — even a report that some 25,000 signatures clamoring for Clinton to be on the ticket have been collected.

Obama will have a variety of factors to consider when he makes what remains to be one of the most undemocratic selections left in American politics — a nominee basically handpicking the person who is a heartbeat away from the President. If he picks Clinton, presumably he’ll have some polite-but-firm understanding worked out with her — and perhaps a less polite but firm understanding worked out with Bill Clinton.

But warnings like Reich’s are likely to be noticed by Obama when he begins his deliberations…

Cartoon by Jeff Parker, Florida Today

UPDATE: A new Gallup Poll indicates Hillary Clinton’s image among black voters has gone substantially south this past year:

In an election year in which race is front and center, American blacks have grown more negative toward Hillary Clinton, with her favorable image sinking from 84% to 58% over the last year, while blacks’ favorable opinions of Barack Obama have soared from 68% to 86%. Blacks have also become more negative toward John McCain.

A new USA Today/Gallup survey, conducted May 30-June 2, 2008, shows that American blacks are significantly more likely now than they were a year ago to have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton. While in June of last year, an overwhelming 84% of blacks said their opinion of Clinton was favorable, that has dropped to 58% today. Unfavorable opinions of Clinton among blacks have jumped from 10% last June to 36% today.



This entry was posted on Friday, June 6th, 2008 at 5:43 pm and is filed under Bill Clinton, Democratic Party, Newsweek Blogitics, Vice President, Elections, Barack Obama, 2008 Elections, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Cartoon Commentary, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

 
close Reblog this comment
Powered by Disqus · Learn more
blog comments powered by Disqus

« All Political Eyes On Clinton’s Obama Endorsement Tomorrow
John McCain Launches New Blog »


By posting comments on The Moderate Voice you are acknowledging and agreeing to the following general comments policy:

(1) The Moderate Voice's comments are hosted by Disqus (http://disqus.com). If your comment doesn't appear immediately, please be patient since it is an off-site system.

(2) All e-mail received from readers by The Moderate Voice is considered intended for publication unless otherwise indicated in the initial message from the writer. Please do not send us attachments unless you contact us and we agree to it.

(3)The Moderate Voice reserves the right to edit all e-mail and posted comments for content, clarity, and length.

(4) Our comment space is reserved for comments that relate to a post's topic. You should not reprint lengthy text from your own works or those of others, including news articles. You MAY link to them.

(5) Comments that are abusive, offensive, contain profane or racist material or violate the terms of service for this blog's host provider will be removed and the author(s) banned from future comments. Such comments also violate the very SPIRIT of this site -- which was created to encourage thoughtful and vigorous discussion among readers who may share differing viewpoints.

(6) All points of view are welcome on The Moderate Voice, with the following exceptions:

(a) Comments posted several times a day with the intent of dominating, re-directing or hijacking the thread by turning a discussion into the equivalent of a bitter shouting match.

(b) Comments posted several times a day that insult or call other commenters or blog writers names or repeatedly make the same point with the effect of or clear intent to annoy other commenters or blog writers.

(7) Name-calling, personal attacks, racist comments or use of profanity by any commenter, whether they are by persons who agree or disagree with the views expressed by The Moderate Voice will NOT be tolerated and will result in the deletion of the comment and the banning of the commenter's ISP address, without notice. In some cases a comment may be deleted and the writer will be given another chance. Commenters who virtually ASK The Moderate Voice to ban them by ignoring any warnings or daring TMV to ban them will quickly get their wish.

(8) Anonymous commenters should identify themselves with the same moniker, so readers know their comments are coming from a single individual. If they don't, they are subject to a banning.

(9)If we have problems with inappropriate or inflammatory comments from a commenter who it turns out gave a fake email address that person is subject to immediate banning.

(10) Quotes from material appearing on The Moderate Voice with attribution are allowed. Reprints are allowed only by permission from The Moderate Voice. You may request permission by e-mail.

(11) The Moderate Voice is a personal site. It is not the Government. It is NOT aligned with any political party. It is NOT promoting any specific candidate for office. It is not a public institution or a media organization. It is not a neutral site. It is intended to express and disseminate the authors' varying points of views. Writers on this weblog WILL take positions. It reserves the right to limit comments to those that, in its view, comport with its stated comment policy. Comments that do not comply are subject to deletion and banning of the author's ISP.

Disclaimer:

--Reading and posting comments at The Moderate Voice constitutes acknowledgment of and agreement to the terms outlined in this comment policy. This comment policy may be revised in part or in full at any time.

--All comments must comport with applicable state and federal laws. The Moderate Voice has no obigation to monitor, edit, censor, or take responsibility for comments. It may or may not act upon a violation of its comment policy once a suspected violation has been brought to its attention. Therefore, commenters are solely responsible for the content of their comments and should ensure that that their comments are lawful and fall within the stated guidelines of both The Moderate Voice and its hosting company.

--The Moderate Voice is not be responsible for injury or liability to any reader or commenter resulting from its own communications or those of commenters, that may be offensive, misleading, inaccurate, illegal, or otherwise unsuitable in the view of the reader. Readers and commenters further agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Moderate Voice from claims resulting from the use of any material appearing on The Moderate Voice which damages the reader, commenter or any other party.

--The Moderate Voice is not responsible for and might disagree with material posted in the comments section. While we strive for accuracy in our posts and DO correct errors, material posted by The Moderate Voice in its posts -- or those left by others in the comments section -- may or may not be accurate.

Read and Post at your own risk.