Barack Obama may be anointed by
the Democratic
Party its presidential nominee by having bested Hillary Clinton in the
primary fight (even if only by a paltry few votes), but he still has a
problem of major proportion to deal with: Hillary Clinton.
Senator Clinton’s vote, whose
campaign started with a bang, tanked in the middle, and ended in an
impressive series of victories, may be the first vote Obama needs to win
in the general election if he is to beat his opponent on the Republican
side, John McCain.
Or not.
The Obama campaign has been
clumsy if not downright juvenile in its handling of Senator Clinton and
her husband the former President of the United States, Bill Clinton.
Now, to be sure, all primaries
are contentious, but Barack Obama took his fight many steps too far. He
made it personal, and that may have been short-sighted on the part of Obama.
Because unfortunately for Obama when it comes to the business of
unifying the party, Barack Obama absolutely, positively cannot do it
without the aid of Hillary Clinton, the woman the Obama campaign has
treated with utter disrespect throughout this contest.
And more than his mistreatment
of Hillary Clinton during this contentious campaign, the Obama camp has
a problem with Hillary’s supporters who he has treated with equal
clumsiness. The core constituents of the Democratic Party the seniors,
women, blue collar voters, and the rising voting bloc of Hispanics Obama
appears to have thrown over for the latté
liberal crowd and his strong backing of African-Americans.
In states and commonwealths
where Hillary Clinton beat the pants off of Obama, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
West Virginia (2:1), Kentucky (2:1), Puerto Rico (2:1) these voting
blocks have little if any use for Barack Obama.
Only in Ohio and Pennsylvania did Obama make an attempt to seriously woo
these voters. When he lost by huge margins to these constituencies, he
pretty much decided to ignore these voters and hardly campaigned
for their votes thereafter. In
West Virginia he made only two appearances despite the fact that West
Virginia is an important swing state.
The message to Hillary's backers:
You don’t like me ... I can’t relate to you ... you’ll come around once
I am declared the nominee ... you are nothing but little sheep ... and
... you are bitter.
And that is why Barack Obama
needs Hillary Clinton. He cannot win the general election without her
complete and undying support – if he can win at all.
So, what to do about Hillary?
News reports vary but talk of
uniting the two candidates has three scenarios. The first, of course, is
the much-touted “Dream Team.” Obama heads the ticket, she is the VEEP
nominee, and the Democrats go on to victory and everyone is happy.
The second is that Obama offers
Hillary a cabinet position, perhaps Secretary of Health, Education and
Welfare where she can move her health plan forward, and he can keep a
close watch on her.
Hillary’s third option is to
return to the Senate, the least talked about option, where she can build
on the power she has amassed during the primaries, rebuild the centrist
coalition in the Democratic Party, move her health plan forward, and
bloc Obama’s agenda if not weaken him should she so desire.
In the Senate,
she could take
the next four years to build her machine for another run for the
presidency while she enhances her reputation.
As to the “Dream Team”
scenario, this is problematic for the Clintons, if not Obama, as it
would mean full disclosure by Bill Clinton on his library backers, would
preclude Bill from making speeches and adding to his millions.
And
Hillary would unlikely be encouraged to be the kind of vice president that
both Al Gore and Dick Cheney were allowed to be. Obama’s ego is way too
big to relinquish power.
And would Obama really want the former
president hanging around Pennsylvania Avenue? Probably not, although
with Hillary as his vice-president he would be able to keep more of a
watchful eye on Bill.
To be sure, a cabinet position
is nothing to slouch at. To be appointed to a president’s cabinet is one of
the highest honors in the land. It gives the recipient a strong vote in
the president’s decision-making process; a cabinet member has a seat
inside the inner-power circle.
On the other hand, unless she were appointed Secretary of State or
Secretary of the Treasury, a cabinet position wouldn’t do much to add to
Senator Clinton’s possible future presidential run. And appointing Clinton
to his cabinet would give Obama the most cover by making it look like he
has brought Hillary into his inner-circle, while he would actually be
burying her. Bill, Obama's other problem, would not be too near or to
afar, something Obama might like.
Going back to the Senate has
its negatives for Mrs. Clinton. There is a reason that Senators rarely
become presidents. Every vote they make can come back to haunt. No one
knows this better than Senator Clinton whose Iraq War vote may be the
single reason she isn’t going to be the Democratic Party’s presidential
nominee in 2008.
All this being said, it appears by every indication
that the
Democratic Party leaders including Barack Obama, despite Hillary’s being
capable of solidifying the party’s coalition, seems hell-bent on further
self-destruction, and want nothing to do with all
things Clinton.
Nancy Pelosi, Donna Brazile,
Howard Dean, the ailing Senator Kennedy and others of the new left wing
coalition have stated emphatically that there will be no “Dream Team”
ticket. Donna Brazile and Howard Dean have said repeatedly they want to
build a new 50 state coalition, one which wouldn’t necessarily need
Hillary’s constituency.
So what to do about Hillary? In
the end it won’t matter what Barack Obama or the Party wants. In the end
it will be Hillary Clinton’s choice whether Obama likes it or not. Even
a possible future president has to learn he can't control everything or
everyone...certainly not Hillary Clinton.