By Dave Lindorff
I've got it!
The way to get Hillary Clinton out of the Democratic race so Obama can focus on the general election is to encourage John McCain to name her as his choice for vice president!
It's perfect. On foreign policy, John and Hillary are an excellent match. They both want to blow up Iran. They both thought invading Iraq was a dandy idea. And they both want to keep freezing out Cuba--or maybe worse.
They're both veterans, sort of. John was shot at over North Vietnam, and Clinton claims she was shot at on the ground in Bosnia. John spent five years as a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton, and Hillary spend seven years imprisoned as a First Lady in the White House. John claims his five years in a Vietnamese jail helped make him the man he is, and Hillary claims her eight years imprisoned as a spouse in the White House gave her the experience to be President "on day one."
On domestic issues they may have some disagreements, but hey, that's true with almost all presidential/vice presidential teams. On the important things, they agree. Both love corporate funders. Both love having lobbyists running their campaigns. Both have spouses worth over $100 million backing them, and both have lots of sordid financial dealings in their pasts that they aren't anxious for anyone to dig into.
By picking Hillary Clinton as his running mate, McCain would be putting people at ease about his age, because he'd have a back-up who'd be ready to take over "on day one" if he had a demographic moment and couldn't continue in office. And Hillary, who famously said she was staying in the primary race because "remember Robert Kennedy was killed in June," could actually be in a position to reasonbly hope to inherit the White House before 2012.
It's all good. Even their personalities are matched: both have famously short tempers and are prone to explosive outbursts.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama, with Hillary out of the way, could focus on picking an equally compatable running mate, like...Republican Senator Chuck Hagel?
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DAVE LINDORFF is a journalist and columnist based in Philadelphia. His latest book is "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2006 and now available in paperback). For his other work, go to www.thiscantbehappening.net
digg_url = 'http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/33901'; digg_title = "An Immodest Proposal"; digg_bodytext = "I\'ve got it!\r\n\r\nThe way to get Hillary Clinton out of the Democratic race so Obama can focus on the general election is to encourage John McCain to name her as his choice for vice president!\r\n\r\nIt\'s perfect. On foreign policy, John and Hillary are an excellent match. They both want to blow up Iran. They both thought invading Iraq was a dandy idea. And they both want to keep freezing out Cuba--or maybe worse.\r\n\r\nThey\'re both veterans, sort of. John was shot at over North Vietnam, and Clinton claims she was shot at on the ground in Bosnia. John spent five years as a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton, and Hillary spend seven years imprisoned as a First Lady in the White House. John claims his five years in a Vietnamese jail helped make him the man he is, and Hillary claims her eight years imprisoned as a spouse in the White House gave her the experience to be President \"on day one.\"\r\n\r"; digg_skin = 'standard';
