How is she a loser? She’s a two-term senator, nearly got the Democratic nomination in '08 (and if she’d gotten it, she probably would have won), and she’s been a good secretary of state. I agree there’s not much to be gained by making a switch like this, but it’s not because she’d be a bad candidate.
It’s not going to happen and it would be a terrible move. It would smack of desperation and Hillary is not some kind of huge popular draw anyway. There was a segment of the Democratic primary vote which preferred her to Obama but she isn’t some kind of working-class heroine who would draw millions of voters who would otherwise not vote for Obama.
Who was the last president to switch running mates between terms? FDR?
This sort of thing just isn’t done anymore.
You can maybe argue that she would have been a better choice than Biden in the first place (I disagree, but I can see the argument), but that does not imply that Obama should switch now. Something like changing VPs would be seen as a sign of indecisiveness or desperation, either of which would sink a President like the Lusitania.
Nelson Rockefeller was Ford’s VP, but declined to run in 1976. Bob Dole ended up being his running mate.
This comes, believe it or not, from Bill Clinton, who according to The Washington Post has been talking it up for about forever.
So I’d say it’s more than idle rumormongering and more a bit of political positioning. I don’t believe it’ll come true but it appears to represent the wishes of one power bloc on the D side.
To clarify, I don’t think she’s a loser but the Republicans would certainly spin her that way, and by extension Obama. “Sheesh, man, not that I wouldn’t vote for a black guy, but I just can’t stand Hillary’s laugh and she couldn’t even keep Bill’s cigar in his pocket. Only reason she was a senator was 'cause those librul New Yorkers are a buncha pansies anyway…”
Better to ditch Geitner than Biden.
While I agree that the GOP base is going to as fired up as it’s going to get just by having Obama at the top of the ticket, I also don’t think it’d be a good idea. But I guess I’m a bit more cynical. I think the country still isn’t ready for a Black Guy/Woman ticket.