If Obama wins the nomination, would it be better for his administration to have Hillary and Bill Clinton on board? Both are competent people and Bill could be useful in matters of foreign relations and others. Heck, he shines brighter now, thanks the the Bush contrast effect, funny how these things work out.
Arguments for, against?
If I were him I’d always be concerned that I couldn’t trust the Clintons, so no, I don’t believe it likely they will be part of his administration, nor, I believe, would Hillary want it.
The way I look at it, and this is really imho, I think either candidate would do their party a great service by having the other as a VP. From what I’ve been casually observing from Obama supporters, I think they will be more pissed if he lost the Dem nod than HRC supporters. Therefore, I think for the Dem party, the best course of action would be a Obama HRC ticket with HRC as the VP. Both parties will have, in theory anyway, a united front and a united party. If things go really successful (or, hell, at this point, even somewhat moderately), then HRC can springboard for another 8 years as Pres.
However, if I were Obama, I would be cautious of a HRC getting in the way of process and trying to overstep me whenever there is a conflict. In the long run, that could prove to be more harmful overall. Plus, any time the media picked up on it, Pubs would use it to mine dissension in the ranks and split the party further.
I don’t know if she could. Despite Dick Cheney, remember that quote about “a pitcher of warm spit.”
I don’t know if she could. Despite Dick Cheney, remember that quote about “a pitcher of warm spit.”
I’d like Edwards for VP to improve electibility (however you spell it), Hillary as AG and Bill as Secretary of State.
No. Not either one of them, ever. Not in any capacity. The time of the Clinton’s has passed.
If I was Obama, I’d tell Hillary: “Be my vice-president. You will preside over the Senate as the Constitution dictates and do nothing else except attend the funerals of dignitaries of lesser importance. When I leave office in 2016 I will not endorse you for president even if you win the nomination. If you turn it down, you might as well run for NY governor since you’re no longer a big player in Washington.”
Strongly agree.
Why would you do that, rather than select someone else to groom as the Democratic candidate when your terms are over?
Hillary has salted that Earth but good.
I don’t think it’s the president’s role to groom an heir apparent. In any event, the last sitting vice president to be elected president was George HW Bush and before him you have to back to Martin Van Buren.
I think Obama almost has to offer the VP spot to her to placate older white women voters, and hopefully she’ll have the good sense to turn it down. But to discourage her, I’d make it clear that she would not be in any way, shape, or form a significant part of the administration.
Obama will be the youngest ex-President in history if he wins. That’ll give him a good 30-40 years to play elder statesman. There is no reason to cultivate a VP who is a bitter has been.
Having the Clintons in Obama’s administration would be the first step in a 24-esque, 25th amendment invoking, terrorism related plot to get them back in the oval office. 
Seriously, how many 24 presidents have had to deal with uppity VPs/other underlings.
I wonder if they have reached the point where offering the VP slot to the other is out of the question. I don’t know.
ISTM that Obama support is a lot more extreme here on the SDMB than in the country in general. If the country were like the Dope, Obama would not only be the nominee, the Pope would have submitted his name for beatification. But he has not yet got things wrapped up. And I believe Hilary supporters would be a lot less resentful of an Obama-Clinton ticket than Obamaniacs would be of a Clinton-Obama one. The question is, would HRC accept it? She’s 60, and the aura of inevitability was most of what she had going for her. Can she wait?
Suppose she accepts the VP slot, and loses. I bet that is the end of the line for her. If she accepts and wins, then she has to wait eight years at least, even if Obama isn’t re-elected. If she declines the VP slot, and Obama wins, then it is still eight years. If she declines the VP slot and Obama loses, then at least her supporters can say that she might have won if they hadn’t picked an inexperienced newbie like BHO.
So perhaps her best bet is to fight this out to the bitter end. If she gets the nod and wins, she gets what she wanted. If she loses, she isn’t significantly worse off than she would be as Obama’s VP.
ISTM that this is what she is thinking.
Regards,
Shodan
Why should either Clinton accept a postion in an Obama administration? They’ve got better positions now. Being a Senator or a former President is more prestigious than being a cabinet official.
I don’t think that would ever happen. Like others have pointed out the Clintons have tons of options and have good careers going anyways. I don’t think VP or otherwise would convince them to join Obama
No. No, no pleeease no.
Okay, now that I got that out, let me clarify I think, and would have no problem if Bill was involved in the administration in one way or another. Perhaps UN ambassador or some prominent diplomatic role such as that.
Hillary can bugger off. Well, she can maybe be in the administration somehow, but no where near the line for the Presidency. If she were the VP I’m telling you right now, I will not be able to rest easy for Obama’s entire trem. With the campaign she has ran, her Senate record, and all her various, often dubious, political ties; I am more and more willing to put her right up with all the other Neo-Cons, in and running for(mcW) the White House. People who’s interest are far removed from the good of this Country and from what Obama’s message of change stands for. People who will go to any means to achieve their ends. Plainly put- I do not trust her to be Vice President, or anywhere else down the succession plan for that matter. I’m sorry, I don’t know if Whiteknight was being in serious or not, but I am concerned about this. So long as things are going to seem and follow the script of a bad movie and so-so TV show, then I’ll start trying to look at them that way; including worst case scenarios. I don’t mean to believe in conspiracy theories, but as we move further along in the Bush years, it is getting tough and tough to not believe in them.
This is one reason that I have been a big supporter of Gov. Sebelius of Kansas to be VP. Not only is does she have the real experience and popularity to be President, but she also will be able to, as BobLibDem said “placate older, white women voters”. I’m sure she will be able to bring in a few new red-state guys too. She is a complete, clear, wonderful, and most importantly, anxiety-free alternative to Hillary Clinton.
ETA: I like carnivorousplant’s thinking. Let her fight as AG, though I would prefer Edwards. Maybe she would like a nice Supreme Court Justice nomination?
Yikes; spell check definitely doesn’t catch bad grammar. Even with the edit, that post is a red pen coloring book waiting to happen.
If you were able to slog through that, I commend you; if not- I understand. I do still stand by my points though, however sloppily I worded them.
ETA: One more thing, the MSM seem to be the only ones really pushing for an Obama/Clinton ticket. The more they do, the more the idea worries me.
I’d offer it to Bill and be done with it.
So he can’t serve as President if I die
No problema. It goes to Pelosi.
Well, I’m almost serious.
I like the idea of appointing her as Attorney General, and as soon as her replacement is seated in the Senate, fire her.