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hard to imagine that after spending her whole life playing second-fiddle to a
superstar pol, Hillary Clinton wants to do it again. She’s been vice
president.'); } function getShareKeywords() { return
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Government,Vice Presidents and Vice Presidency (US),Democratic Party,Hillary
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By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: March 26, 2008
WASHINGTON
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Maureen Dowd
While the cool cats away, the Hillary mice will play.
As Barack Obama was floating in the pool with his daughters the last few days
in St. Thomas, some Clinton disciples were floating the idea of St. Hillary as
his vice president.
She cant win without him, said one Hillary adviser, and he cant win without
her.
Theyre stuck with each other.
Its one of my favorite movie formulas, driving the dynamics in such classics
as A Few Good Men, The Big Easy and Guys and Dolls: Charming, glib guy
spars and quarrels with no-nonsense, driven girl, until they team up in the
last reel. He spices up her life, and she stiffens his spine. And soon they
hear the pitter-patter of little superdelegate feet, who are thrilled not to be
pulled in two directions anymore.
And everybodys happy. Or are they?
A couple of weeks ago, when Hill and Bill mentioned the possibility of a
joint ticket, it was an attempt to undermine Obama and urge voters and
superdelegates to put Hillary on top; the implication was that this was the
only way Democrats could have both their stars, and besides, it was her turn.
The precocious boy wonder had plenty of time.
But with the math not in her favor, her options running out, Bill Richardson
running out and her filigreed narrative of dodging bullets in Bosnia and
securing peace in Northern Ireland unraveling, could Hillary actually think the
vice presidency is the best shell do?
One Hillary pal said she wouldnt want to go back to a Senate full of
lawmakers whod abandoned her for Obama. And even if she could get to be
majority leader, would it be much fun working with Nancy Pelosi, whose distaste
for the Clintons has led her to subtly maneuver for Obama?
Maybe The Terminator is thinking: if she could just get her pump in the door.
Dick Cheney, after all, was able to run the White House and the world from the
vice presidents residence, calling every shot while serving under a less
experienced and younger president. And Observatory Circle is just up the street
from where Hillary now lives.
But, aside from Barack and Michelle Obamas certain resistance, would it fly?
Many Hillary voters are hardening against Obama, and more and more Obama fans
are getting turned off by the idea of dragging down the Obama brand with
Clinton dysfunction.
No drama, vote Obama placards and T-shirts are popping up at Obama rallies,
and one of his military advisers dubbed him No Shock Barack.
Its hard to imagine that after spending her whole life playing second-fiddle
to a superstar pol, Hillary wants to do it again. Shes been vice president.
Could the veep talk be a red herring? A ploy designed to distract attention
from the Clintons real endgame?
Even some Clinton loyalists are wondering aloud if the win-at-all-costs
strategy of Hillary and Bill which continued Tuesday when Hillary tried to
drag Rev. Wright back into the spotlight is designed to rough up Obama so
badly and leave the party so riven that Obama will lose in November to John
McCain.
If McCain only served one term, Hillary would have one last shot. On Election
Day in 2012, shed be 65.
Why else would Hillary suggest that McCain would be a better commander in
chief than Obama, and why else would Bill imply that Obama was less patriotic
and attended by more static than McCain?
Why else would Phil Singer, a Hillary spokesman, say in a conference call
with reporters on Tuesday that Obama was trying to disenfranchise the voters of
Florida and Michigan. When it comes to voting, Senator Obama has turned the
audacity of hope into the audacity of nope, he said, adding, Theres a basic
reality here, which is we could have avoided the entire George W. Bush
presidency if we had counted votes in Florida. So is Singer making the case
that Obama is as anti-democratic as W. was when he snatched Florida from Al
Gore?
Some top Democrats are increasingly worried that the Clintons
divide-and-conquer strategy is nihilistic: Hillary or no democrat.
(Or, as one Democrat described it to ABCs Jake Tapper: Hillary is going for
the Tonya Harding option if she cant get the gold, kneecap her rival.)
After all, the Clintons think of themselves as The Democratic Party. When
Bill and Dick Morris triangulated during the first term, it was what was best
for Bill, not the party. In 1996, when Bill turned the White House into Motel
1600 for fund-raisers, it was more about his re-election than the re-elections
of his fellow Democrats in Congress; in 2000, the White House focused its
energies more on Hillarys Senate win than Al Gores presidential run.
And even Clinton supporters know that Bill does not want to be replaced as
the first black president, especially by a black president with enough magic to
possibly eclipse him in the history books.
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