“All” it would take is to convince HRC to be BHO’s VP, or the other way around (I have no preference and would vote for them either way), and they could combine their forces and bulldoze over JSMcC3. Piece of cake, except for the convincing part, but the DNC is full of smart politicians who want to win and even Clinton and Obama have to understand at some level that this continued fighting is damaging the chances of either of them to win in November. Sure, they can go through the motions in the last few primaries but the goal is to get the Republicans out of the WH, right? Make peace and concentrate on the REAL fight.
Sheesh. This SHOULD be a no-brainer. You have two evenly matched candidates; do you let them beat each other half to death or do you get them working together for the good of the [del]party[/del] nation?
As always, that quote of Will Rogers is depressingly true: “I am not a member of any organized party – I am a Democrat.”
There’s very little party discipline in America. Might be better if there were, but that’s how it is. A party can’t even expel a member. David Duke gets to call himself a Republican, Lyndon LaRouche a Democrat, because nobody has the authority to say they’re not.
The DNC has about as much authority to compel a candidate to take the VP slot as I do to force Bill Gates to make me an Executive Vice President for Partying Down. The former idea has advantages and disadvantages, the latter is brilliant, and neither have any chance of happening.
Someone had a hilarious video series up on YOutube; on the bits was addressing the logic of Obama being Hillary’s VP: it showed two guys arm-wrestling, and one almost had the other down and beaten when the loser called a halt and announced that they should end the contest and agree that he won.
In fact, it’d be anathema to the democratic process, and the rules, as convoluted as they sometimes are, to do so. Whoever has the most delegates at the end should win. Period. That folks are actually beginning to entertain the idea that Obama should accept second fiddle when he’s in the lead is really quite troubling. Does anyone believe there’d be any way in Hell Hillary would accept a VP slot if positions were reversed and she were in the lead? :rolleyes:
In the U.S. it isn’t typically enough to win just a plurality.
For example, if you just win a plurality of the electoral votes, you don’t become President.
So “whoever has the most wins” isn’t exactly true in all situations, in the United States. The nominating process doesn’t work that way nor does the actual election for President, at least not if the person with the most votes doesn’t have a majority of the votes.
Maybe I’ve lived too long around Chicago because the concept of candidates bucking the will of the Politburo and not getting slapped around for it is fairly alien to me. I mean, what’s the point of having a national committee if people can just ignore it whenever they pleased? JFK would not have picked LBJ on his own and neither would FDR have picked Truman, er, HST. Candidates–okay, most politicians–are idiots and need guidance. And no, I’m not actually suggesting HRC get pushed ahead of BHO. I just wouldn’t mind it, though she is more attack dog VP material.
sigh It would, wouldn’t it? Does that make Al Gore Mickey Hart?
An extended primary season where every state counts (except for a couple that screwed themselves by breaking the rules) is not the worst thing to happen to American democracy. Having two viable candidates supporters are actually enthusiastic about as opposed to one everybody settles on by default is not the worst thing to happen to the party.
Barack Obama is working very closely with the DNC – they’ve even submitted a joint fundraising agreement to the FEC. What makes you think he hasn’t floated his short list of VP candidates to them already, and that they’re satisfied enough with his picks that they have no interest in shoving his vicious rival down his throat?
I think that this might be what’s confusing to we Northern IL folks, in Chicago you don’t do squat without Ritchie’s say so unless you want to be buried alive. If he says that the party wants “X” than you’d better toe the line and quickly.
Compared to Daley the Younger Howard Dean has as much authority as the head of the local chapter of Jaycees.
The “mess” was FL and MI. This is just the nomination process playing out. I fully expect a review of that process once it’s over and some changes made from lessons learned. Why are so many people impatient?
