If Obama Had Picked Hillary Clinton

[humder]

 If Obama had picked Hillary Clinton for his running mate, how do you think the results would have been different.
 

[Tender Branson]

Hmm.

Maybe he would have won MO, but lost IN & NC ...

[Scam of God]

Hmm.

Maybe he would have won MO, but lost IN & NC ...

This, and he'd have come within five in Arkansas. It's probably for the better he didn't.

[humder]

 Do you really think she could have lost Obama states? I'm not sure if people in Indiana and North Carolina are that anti-Clinton.

[Scam of God]

Do you really think she could have lost Obama states? I'm not sure if people in Indiana and North Carolina are that anti-Clinton.

It's not so much that they're anti-Clinton as it is that Obama attracted a certain type of Republican: socially moderate, fiscally responsible Republicans in the Midwest and Upper South who, while 'traditionalist' in a vague sense, feel alienated by the rightward lurch of the G.O.P. on social policy. Picking a Clinton may have undermined his perceived earnestness towards this group.

[Josh/Devilman88]

Same results, but doing a little better in the apps.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Do you really think she could have lost Obama states? I'm not sure if people in Indiana and North Carolina are that anti-Clinton.

It's not so much that they're anti-Clinton as it is that Obama attracted a certain type of Republican: socially moderate, fiscally responsible Republicans in the Midwest and Upper South who, while 'traditionalist' in a vague sense, feel alienated by the rightward lurch of the G.O.P. on social policy. Picking a Clinton may have undermined his perceived earnestness towards this group.

true. For the same reason he might have done a point or two worse in Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, but ultimately still would have won those states

[panda_priest]

He might has well have picked her now that she's in his adminstration.

[Nixon in '80]

He might has well have picked her now that she's in his adminstration.

...except if he dies/resigns, she won't become President... big difference.

[Padfoot]

He might has well have picked her now that she's in his adminstration.

...except if he dies/resigns, she won't become President... big difference.

Also, he didn't have to run with her for 3 months.  If people grumbled about how choosing Biden wasn't exactly "change worthy" just think about what people would have said about Clinton.  I think having Clinton as the VP would have made more Obama supporters angry than Clinton supporters happy.  The net result would have been a closer election IMO.  I don't think having Clinton on the ticket would have done Obama any favors.

[Meeker]

He would've been able to win women, Jews and Hispanics.

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

It would have been a bad idea, even though Clinton is one of my favorite politicians, because of two things:

1.Hillary, who will (i think) turn 70 in 2016, would probably still be scheming for 2012 and might try to ruin the election for him.

2.Given her ambitious nature, once Obama is in office he might end up like Vince Foster.

[jamestroll]

why does everybody think Clinton would have hurt obama when exit polls showed her winning by 10+ points over mclame

[Franzl]

why does everybody think Clinton would have hurt obama when exit polls showed her winning by 10+ points over mclame

I honestly think there's a difference between being on the top or the bottom of the ticket.

Hillary may have (probably) performed better as the actual candidate, but I think she might indeed have been a liability in Obama v. Mac as VP nominee.

[jamestroll]

why does everybody think Clinton would have hurt obama when exit polls showed her winning by 10+ points over mclame

I honestly think there's a difference between being on the top or the bottom of the ticket.

Hillary may have (probably) performed better as the actual candidate, but I think she might indeed have been a liability in Obama v. Mac as VP nominee.

What would you have thought of a Hillary-Obama ticket?

I would have loved it! But I am not sure how it would have done. However Clinton would have almost had to chose Obama as her running mate if she won the nomination.

However, I doubt there would have been an anti-clinton rebellion in Indiana if it were Obama-Hillary..

[Scam of God]

However, I doubt there would have been an anti-clinton rebellion in Indiana if it were Obama-Hillary..

You have to realize that there is a very large, very vocal contingent of right-wingers of an intellectually inferior caliber who have been groomed for a decade and a half to await the day that Hillary stepped into the role of Democratic nominee for President. Entire books have been written on and about the subject; all of this nonsense regarding her role in nontroversies like Whitewater and Vince Foster's suicide was a long-winded dog-whistle for that day.

For this reason, among others, Hillary has a definite 'ceiling' of support, with passionate zealots on both sides. Obama had a great advantage over her in that respect; few knew who he was prior to his Iowa victory, and the right-wing machine had less than a year to nail him with something that would stick to him the way those faux-scandals did to Hillary.

(That said, of course, I personally despise the woman for very different reasons - she's a half-hearted triangulator par excellence; she, like Bill, has utterly no principles.)

[jamestroll]

However, I doubt there would have been an anti-clinton rebellion in Indiana if it were Obama-Hillary..

You have to realize that there is a very large, very vocal contingent of right-wingers of an intellectually inferior caliber who have been groomed for a decade and a half to await the day that Hillary stepped into the role of Democratic nominee for President. Entire books have been written on and about the subject; all of this nonsense regarding her role in nontroversies like Whitewater and Vince Foster's suicide was a long-winded dog-whistle for that day.

For this reason, among others, Hillary has a definite 'ceiling' of support, with passionate zealots on both sides. Obama had a great advantage over her in that respect; few knew who he was prior to his Iowa victory, and the right-wing machine had less than a year to nail him with something that would stick to him the way those faux-scandals did to Hillary.

(That said, of course, I personally despise the woman for very different reasons - she's a half-hearted triangulator par excellence; she, like Bill, has utterly no principles.)

While the far right wing hates her as much, and probably more, as ever; overall her perception among moderate conservatives is much higher today then it was before this year.

[Scam of God]

While the far right wing hates her as much, and probably more, as ever; overall her perception among moderate conservatives is much higher today then it was before this year.

Of course, because they're either just as lacking in any real principle as she is or they're too stupid to realize that she intentionally ran to the (far) right of Obama in the primaries to pull in the "'Scoop' Jackson" Democrats to her camp. If they're dumb enough to fall for her incessant triangulation, though, maybe we can make leftists out of them yet.