Possible tickets: Hillary-Barack / Obama-Edwards

By Weekly Archive On Feb 5, 2008

Possible
tickets: Hillary-Barack / Obama-Edwards

By
Alvaro F. Fernandez
alfernandez@the-beach.net

By
the time you read this we will know the results of Super Tuesday. I
am writing this column on Sunday before the Tuesday and some of my
speculation may have to change after Feb. 5 when more than 20 states
are holding primaries. Last year many had figured, in fact, that by
Super Tuesday the nomination(s) on both sides of the political aisle
would have been sewn up. Luckily, the diversity of candidates and a
greater interest nationally to participate in bringing about “change”
has made it too hard to predict, still at this point, who the
candidates will be from either Party. Although it looks like Sen.
John McCain is gaining steam and should end up representing the
Republicans in November as their presidential candidate.

That
would not be good news for the Democrats, especially if Sen. Hillary
Clinton manages to win the Democratic Party nomination. Reasons are
varied, but they boil down to a couple of things. McCain outpolls
Hillary with Independent voters; which is not the case against Obama.
And Clinton is hated by Republicans; while Obama has shown a tendency
to draw some moderate Republican voters to his side.

Also,
McCain, like Obama, has shown the ability to cross Party lines and
pick up voters. I am sure Democrats would have preferred a ticket
with Mitt Romney, or even a Mike Huckabee, at the top.

This
said, I think we can start to consider running partners for whomever
wins on the Democratic side. And I began this discussion with McCain
because, like I’ve mentioned, he has made it that much more
difficult for the Demos.

I
would start with Barack Obama. I believe that a dream ticket here
would be Obama with John Edwards as his running mate. This would be
an almost impossible ticket to beat. Edwards is white and from the
south. He has also set the course for discussion of issues throughout
this campaign. While Obama has spoken of hope and change, and Hillary
has touted her years of experience, Edwards has pounded on the issues
that affect us all: economy, health care, jobs and others. In fact,
it was Edwards who made both Obama and Hillary better candidates by
forcing them to address these issues and others important to all
Americans.

Polls
show Hillary Clinton still ahead of Barack Obama nationally and with
clear leads in major states that are up for grabs on Super Tuesday.
So let us suppose Hillary does garner the Democratic Party
nomination. What can we expect?

For
months I’ve thought that there is no way a Hillary-Barack ticket
would be possible. Consider that each would be a first — first woman
president or first black president. How can one even consider running
them together?

They
may have to. I have spoken to many Obama backers. There is the
possibility of something frightening developing within their ranks:
they
will NOT vote for Hillary Clinton if she is the Party nominee. (See
today’s Bill Press column in Progreso Weekly.) This attitude, by
the way, begins to explain why Hillary has such high negative numbers
when polling. There are many persons from around the country who just
don’t like the former first lady. Included in that group are a
large number of women.

So
how can Hillary,
if
she does become the Democratic Party nominee, overcome this real
problem that can lead to defeat in November? Obama and Mrs. Clinton
debating cordially in Los Angeles last week showed, for the first
time, I believe, that these two together do shine. It may also be the
only way that she wins the general election.

If
Obama does accept the vice presidency then he must convince his
followers to vote for this
ticket,
that it is for the good of the country. A Hillary-Obama campaign tour
which includes Ted and Caroline Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Al Gore (who
pundits say will endorse Obama), John Edwards, and so many others
would be a hard ticket to beat.

Of
course, if the Democrats play their cards right and manage to beat a
McCain, for example, then the Demos have the chance to hold on to the
presidency for at least 16 years. Now the question we must all be
asking ourselves: Can the Democrats figure it out without shooting
themselves in the foot?