Obama wanted Clinton as VP, Plouffe says

Obama wanted Clinton as VP, Plouffe says
Posted: October 29th, 2009 08:43 AM ET

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney


Obama was seriously considering picking Clinton as his running mate, a new book reveals.

(CNN) - Some Democrats had dubbed the possibility of a Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton pairing last year as a "dream ticket," though the notion that the two once-bitter primary rivals would team up always seemed far-fetched.

But then-Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama was more seriously considering picking Clinton as his running mate than any of his senior aides realized, according to a forthcoming book by former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.

Yet in the end, it may have been her husband Bill Clinton - who had made headlines for his outbursts on the campaign trail during the primary season - that ultimately scuttled the possibility.

In the new book, excerpts of which are running in the new issue of Time Magazine, Plouffe said Obama took both him and senior aide David Axelrod by surprise when he insisted on including Clinton on the initial list of potential picks for the No. 2 spot on the ticket.

"Obama was clearly thinking more seriously about picking Hillary Clinton than Axelrod and I had realized," Plouffe writes. "He said if his central criterion measured who could be the best VP, she had to be included in that list."

<SNIP>

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/29/obama-wanted-clinton-as-vp-plouffe-says/

Naaahhh, that would have made heads here and at KOS, Huff, et al. explode. The left surpassed the right during the primaries in their derision of the Clintons.

x(

:hi:
now with scotchguard so the exploded head bits wash right off :)

I'm tired of coughing, my ribs and back ache by now. Oh well, at least it's not the flu.....either one. LOL!!!

:pals:

:hug:

you feel better.

I'll survive, it's just an annoying cold.

:hi:

Never miss an opening to whine your ignorant snark.

disagree with.

of our President.

President Obama is doing an outstanding job. Thank you President Obama:patriot:

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

100% true.


And so sad.

Besides, wasn't the "left" supporting Edwards and Kucinich?

and perhaps it would have. That's for speculation only.

However, I do think that choosing Hillary for SOS was an inspired move. She is dedicated, intelligent and hardworking and is doing so much to help Obama reclaim for the US the respect that was lost during the Bush years. They make a great team.

Hillary too for that matter. A really ugly streak comes out in us at DU during primaries

during the primaries, it was not as rosy as you may be painting, and it wasn't from just the "partisan" people at DU

racist. That can be attributed to the mad hysteria by Clinton haters which ultimately blew that shit out of proportion.

I've seen many cases here on DU where white liberals/progressives blow shit especially having to do with racism out of proportion to the point where I have been called a racist. During that time I was also told that I don't know what racism is when I see it.

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=3374">horse's mouth

The campaign was dirty and I hated it but I got over it and so did President Obama and Hillary. That doesn't mean I don't rememeber what happened. Thanks Helmet.

nor can I. The campaing Was dirty, but the campaign that thought the dirty ways still worked were the ones who slung the mud. and lost.

It does not necessarily make it true. But portraying the Clintons and their supporters as racists paid very well for the Obama campaign. He stayed above the fray, while Axelrod and company spread that meme. Aided and abetted by the boot licking media.

:eyes:

kind of vote. It was amazing to see McCain resort to the same tactics after watching the Clintons lose. Now the media is doing the same thing.

They never learn.

Holder said that people are cowards when it comes to race, I disagree. I think that people are hypocrites.

Hillary's supporters were called "low information voters" and racists. Well, I doubt that most of Obama's supporters were working on their PhD. Besides, if 6 out 10 whites voted for Hillary and 9 out of 10 AAs voted for Obama (9.5 during the GE). Who exactly voted along racial lines?

Obama used the race card when it was convenient to him too. Things like saying that he didn't look like the presidents in the currency, how some were trying to "bamboozle" them, that some people were going to point out that he was black, etc.

My point is that neither side was pure as the driven snow, that's politics.

:shrug:

Please. For the love of God... GIVE IT UP.

ridiculous shit. Obama made his comments in response to videos portraying him on the dollar bill. Yet he's the one playing the race card.

The human mind has infinite capacity to twist things in the service of self-interest. Why doesn't the poster deal with the hypocrisy that Clinton was free to brag and talk run on being the first woman president- that's okay - but not cool at all to say anything about being the first black.

No, I'm afraid they will never give it up.

but Bill, particularly, is not above using race as a tactic, which he did more than once in a rather cynical way.

He went for the low blow there...

He responded to a reporter's question. He stated the truth, Rev. Jackson had won SC twice.

:shrug:

has an advantage there, and he will flame out when the vote comes around to the rest of America because he will go the same way Jackson did'.

It was a calculated political move, which did somewhat backfire with the left but the centrists and DLCers lapped it up - he knew the demographic he was playing to. And, being an Arkansas Dem, he knew exactly how it would play. He has always been an astute politician with incredible skills, and is far more pragmatic than his wife.

While Obama was running a campaign that was reaching beyond race, Hillary and Bill insulted the left and black Democrats by trying to marginalize them, making them/us the 'other'. It nearly worked, and if it had McCain would be president now because the crazy right would have NEVER allowed Hillary to be president.

But that doesn't make them racist. Just politicians.

than Obama, is what I specifically had in mind

The racial hysterial had nothing to do with Clinton

Most of that bullshit came directly from that fucking pig Mark Penn and the other fucking pig Howard Wolfson.

as a part of their campaign strategy. And they were. Going around to big donors and delegates telling them that a Black man could not win is using racism whether you like it or not.

Comparing Obama's chances of winning in SC against Jesse Jackson was blowing the racist dog whistle and Bill Clinton is too smart not to know that. There are a lot of southern whites who have a very negative image of Jackson and it was meant to awaken those emotions toward Obama. Obama = Jackson.

Some of the things that Hillary Clinton said were not too cool and rightfully pissed off a lot of Obama's supporters. Especially the one hinting that he would be assassinated. That was really sickening.

She also threw a fit on national television about a flyer that Obama put out that was a little over the top and bogus. She lied about her experience in Bosnia and made some very demeaning comments about Obama. And she also seemed to be supporting McCain at points in the primary saying he would make a better president. That was enough for me that I would have NEVER voted for her.

The BS over Michigan and Florida also pissed me off to no end. She knew the rules and agreed to them. And then tried to change them when she fell behind and started trying to make it into Obama didn't believe in democracy. It was really sickening.

Hillary Clinton as well as her supporters were not perfect and I, for one, am kind of fed up with the rewriting of history on the primary like it was the Obama supporters that were going after the Clinton supporters. I think that the Clinton supporters were far more outspoken and attacking and some still have not gotten over the primaries, case in point.

Calling the Obama supporters hysterical when they made and make legitimate complaints didn't and doesn't help. Clinton lost because she ran a lousy campaign and pissed too many people off. One of those was Ted Kennedy.

This is my 1st comment on this and I have tried not to weigh into the fray, but enough is enough.

That having been said, I think Hillary Clinton is a GREAT Secretary of State. I absolutely love her in this position and think it was made for her. More power to her. You go girl!

Obama always had much respect for Hillary's talents and qualities and it was the advisors and underlings in his campaign that hated her and thought she and especially her husband Bill would make it all about them and fuck shit up if she were asked to be in a high position in his administration.

Just look at the latest polls, Hillary tops everyone in the administration, including Michelle (that one surprised even me).

:eyes:

have enjoyed VP.

sides.

Think about how some of the progressive are treating Obama along with the Repubs. Getting hit from both sides isn't fun.

Some of them live in such righteous La-La-Land, that they lost all touch with the reality of politics and governing and life in Washington.

...All Hillary supporters ending up leaving DU to that other site until the GE started...crazy times!
I respected her fire though and at the time i wouldnt have taken her as VP...but now, i would definitely take her.

telling his supporters to stop calling the Clintons racist. I saw that as dirty politicts because he knew dayum well that shit was wrong.

He didn't stop it so he could win. He played into that shit. I can't blame him he wanted to win so he let the hysteria play on.

The person she is now is the person she would have been as VP. But the hysteria fed the frenzy, people saw her and Bill as the boogie man and that turned her into a monster in their eyes.

The rightwing won that shit they got us to rebuke one of our best.

Best observation in a long, long time!

She's been in the public eye for many years and her record shines....

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

"I was angry @ Obama for not telling his supporters to stop calling the Clintons racist. I saw that as dirty politics because he knew dayum well that shit was wrong.

He didn't stop it so he could win. He played into that shit. I can't blame him he wanted to win so he let the hysteria play on."

Yeah, that's when I finally got angry too. Before I was neutral about him, I just preferred Hillary. Bill was relentlessly portrayed as a racist by the media and "sotto voce" by Obama's campaign (remember the campaign memo that Russert shoved at him during a debate?). Obama could have put a stop to it, but didn't say anything because it suited him, he needed a win in SC.

:applause:



Me too.

saying racist shit. Even "coded" racist shit is still racist shit.

To each his own, I guess.

Remember, this is the wife of the man who derided Sista Souljah and took time off the 1992 campaign to put Rickey Ray Rector to death despite the fact that Rector had half a brain and was practically harmless.

:applause: x 10000

come on. Tuzla, for just one? what the HELL was she thinking? thats crazy stuff.

and I was hoping he would pick her for VP.

Hillary is an ace asset, in whatever role. The more impact she has over administrative policy, the better.

I am somewhat pleased that the Clintons stock has gone up in the blogosphere since the election. I think a lot of folks are learning what the Clintons had to go through by seeing what its like for the Obama Admin.

Hillary was treated here, and at the other left wing blogs, just as bad as at the Freepers' site.

:(

If DU'ers will get by with attacking her for Barack pandering to the center like he is doing?


:shrug:

:eyes:

But that's just me.

but hypocrisy is their middle name.

;-)

:-)

I felt that it should have been Clinton - Obama and in 8 years Obama - ? We could have had 16 years of Democratic rule and two historical presidencies. They each had won about half of the votes and they should both have been on the ticket.

I still feel the same way, but that's life.......

:shrug:

She's better off where she is or still in the senate.

Oh how I would have loved her in Reid's spot.

She would have been a far better choice than Reid, but she didn't have the seniority in the Senate to get that spot. Don't forget that these are 100 of the most pompous and self important people in the country. Seniority is everything to them.

:-)

And I thought she would have made a great VP. That being said, especially after watching the convention, I think it would have been an impossible situation. Not because of her, or her husband, or Obama, but because of the media. I came out of the Dem convention thinking that if Hillary had been VP, the media would never have allowed Obama to be THE president. It would have been a constant barrage of stories about Hillary, about Bill, about what Hillary thinks of Obama's every decision, about what Bill thinks of Obama's every decision, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseaum.

It bums me out for her, because the media insanity would not have been her fault (or Bill's). But I do think that the press would have been in a frenzy (as would the GOP) from day one to undercut Obama with their constant conjecture about "What would Hillary do? What would Hillary have done? What does Bill think about this decision?"

They go after Biden for gaffes, but he's allowed to generally remain in the background so Obama can do his thing out front. After watching days of frenzy leading up to Hillary's and Bill's speeches, I felt sure Obama had done the right thing not to choose her. Which didn't make it less depressing to know it had to be that way. That's why I was so thrilled he picked her as SOS. Although, right about now, I wish she was up front arguing in the Senate for health care reform. With the loss of Hillary, Kennedy, Biden and Obama, it's a lot tougher to get a really big name out there to put a face and a voice on the Senate floor.

Plus, if Hillary were chosen for VP, we probably wouldn't have gotten Palin, one of the biggest gifts to us.

1. The title of this piece is "Bill Clinton hindered wife's VP chances, Plouffe says"
2. From the link Obama "seriously considered" --- the OP edited it to read "wanted"

Apparently, they edited the headline.

Now, please stop the hate.

That would have got him if he'd picked Hillary. Biden having experience on foreign affairs made him the best choice, and it was harder for the repukes to go on with the inexperience meme than it would have been.

Her negatives where to high to run on the ticket imho.

It was the Democrat's year. ANY Democrat would have won in 2008. Besides, she's soooo unpopular that she tops every poll since March.

:eyes:

Got any links on these current polls your quoting? I would like to see them.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/123665/Hillary-Clinton-More-Popular-Barack-Obama.aspx

Check page 4:

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/20/rel15c.pdf

;-)

You will also notice that her unfavorable numbers have always been high. They are somewhat low right now though.

The again, not surprising for someone who won more votes from registered Democrats during the primaries.

his numbers now suffer due to economic woes. When teh economy rebounds, it will be he and not her that gets those numbers.

Look, I know you are still bitter about 2008, but I've been bitter since 1992 when Clinton's minions spread ugly rumors about Jerry Brown having parties where cocaine was around. Don't tell me you agreed with that, Beacool?

"The Secretary of State, who lost the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination to Obama, has, however, seen a rise in her favorability rating among overall voters. Sixty-two percent of the public has a positive view about the job she was doing - six percentage points higher than those who have a positive view of Obama's work."


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/obama-now-more-polarizing_n_322159.html


So Hillary does, indeed, have a higher favorability rating than Obama.

but her indie numbers weren't so hot.

The arrogance and presumption of the Clintons during the campaign did in her chances as president.

Hope, change, blah, blah, blah.........

Mere platitudes.

:eyes:

i can easily fire right back and say her outright lies are what did her in. (laugh did i say "fire right back" )

And the weaselly super delegates, not lack of support from Democrats. She continued to win primaries until the very end. She may not have been able to surpass Obama's pledged delegate advantage (gained mainly though the caucuses), but people still kept voting for her, to the chagrin of his supporters and the media.

Hopefully, i can put this in such a way as to not be divisive but its difficult so bear with me.

I think, for many, she had a credibility issue. The complaints about the caucuses and FL/MI voting debacle only served to hurt her image among many democrats(myself included.) Caucuses are just a way to create a sort of super run of where people get to vote for their best option first then, if that fails, add their vote to there next favorite until its down to two. This system isnt itself a problem but can be gamed. Complaining about a system that has been in place for some time while your losing at it seems like a mistake. I have also noticed that there have been no attempts or talks about changing these same said caucuses now that everything is over. The states get to choose how they want to do it.

As for FL/MI. All candidates agreed before the primary season began that they would omit the votes in FL and MI due to attempts by those states to bully their way to the front. Hillary signed this pledge herself and then changed position when she needed the votes. If she cared so much about disenfranchising voters, why did she sign the pledge to begin with?

Complex issues like these get processes by people in different ways. Obviously, they don't bother you but they do bother me. Im sure there are things about Obama that bother you but don't bother me.

IMO caucuses should not exist. They disenfranchise far too many people who are unable to spend the time it takes to caucus. It also favors the candidate who has the most activists. Caucuses should have gone the way of the rotary phone, they are a thing of the past. To have a candidate win more delegates out of a state where a handful of people voted than the candidate who won in a large state where hundreds of thousands of people voted is a sham and undemocratic. I would state the same thing regardless of who was the candidate.

As for FL and MI. FL's delegates should have been counted since all candidates were on the ballot and MI should have held a revote. I was in DC and saw how delegates were given in MI to Obama, 4 delegates that he hadn't earned. Brazile can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. By that point the DNC had already decided who they wanted to take the prize. That's why the DNC will never get another dime from me or my family. From now on we vote for the candidate, not the party.

to push in front? How do you think that should be handled in the future?

If they where going to count em, they should have done a redo in both states and just let all candidates campaign and all voters know it was real. FL was kind of a false start. If i lived their, i wouldn't have voted because of the debacle.

That Obama was considering her, but his advisors were the most skeptical. What a waste of time the Media feigned outrage was for him "not putting her in the top 4" etc (and the DU outrage that ensued).

.

When Jill Biden dared to disclose that her husband was given a choice between SOS and VP. We should all be happy they are on the same team.

In the end, all that matters is that we all work toward progress.

I am glad we have Joe Biden too. I would be okay with their roles were reversed. Both are doing an excellent job as far as I am concerned. The only thing that would have bothered me if Hill were VP would be the constant speculation by the crappy media that she was undermining Obama. I think they were both adults and put the past behind them.

The Vice President is more of a advisory role than an action role. I agree though that the roles could be reversed.

I think he was the best choice if we couldn't have Hillary.


He is a good man with lots of experience in DC.


Barack made a good choice with Joe.

stand up and be a proud whiner!

It's Plouffe's opinion.

Thats what turned me off about them. I preferred Obama, but at first I didn't think he could win. But after the Clinton's starting race baiting him, I was team Obama 110% and have been ever since. Hillary really pissed me off when she said she can only win the white vote, the Clinton's really will do anything to win and that includes feeding racism. About her approval ratings, any time you are out of the public eye, your ratings will go up. The same thing happened with Michelle Obama, once she started keeping a low profile, doing gardening and talking to kids her ratings went up. Hillary is never on TV or giving speeches, so naturally her ratings were going to go up as well. The POTUS is the one who takes all the blows and punches at the end of the day, so of course his appvl ratings would be below hers.:shrug:

bump

She would have been good at it, but I think SoS is a much better fit for her.