To choose or not to choose...
Posted by Little Ms Purple at 6/4/2008 9:15 AM 
Categories: 2008 Election, Political strategies, All Posts
Categories: 2008 Election, Political strategies, All Posts
...THAT is the question.
Now that Obama has taken the nomination, the most difficult decision he is currently faced with is whether or not to put Senator Clinton on the ticket with him as he tries to take the White House. Given the hints that Clinton and her surrogates have been dropping as of late, if he does ask her, she will take the job (it is nice that he now knows this so he doesn't get caught asking when he really doesn't want her to take it). Having put on my political strategist hat over this issue for the last couple of days, I have two suggestions for Senator Obama.
First of all, I do NOT believe that he should put her on the ticket with him. To choose her would go against the very reason his campaign has succeeded (the voters are looking for CHANGE) in addition to giving the Republicans a target to shoot at that they all know and LOVE to shoot at: Bill and Hillary Clinton. I believe that he should either pick A. Kathleen Sabelius, the Democratic Governor of Kansas OR B. Chuck Hagel, the Republican Senator from Nebraska. Two very different choices but both bring different parts of the electorate to the table.
Now, if he REALLY feels that he needs to ask (or even if he truly wants to ask) Senator Clinton to join him on the ticket, he shouldn't nominate a Vice President... you read that right. Rather, he should nominate a Vice President, a Secretary of State and a Secretary of Defense all on the same day in the same announcement. Senator Clinton as Vice President, Senator Hagel as Secretary of Defense and Senator Biden or Gov. Richardson as Secretary of State. By nominating all three at once he does a few things... first of all, he shifts the focus away from Clinton to the two other positions; he brings a Republican into the fold who has war cred and great respect among many Republicans; he throws the press a curve ball that takes the pressure off of the VP pick. The country already knows Clinton VERY well and this tactic would give the voters two new people to scrutinize while actually showing that Obama IS a different kind of candidate.
Obama has mentioned that he is open to putting forth his cabinet picks throughout the campaign which is a very unorthodox tactic and one that I think the voters would appreciate while putting McCain on the defensive. In this instance however, if he picks Clinton as VP, he could use this tactic to stymie any severe backlash among his supporters, confuse and bewilder the press and put the Republicans on defense.
Thoughts?
Now that Obama has taken the nomination, the most difficult decision he is currently faced with is whether or not to put Senator Clinton on the ticket with him as he tries to take the White House. Given the hints that Clinton and her surrogates have been dropping as of late, if he does ask her, she will take the job (it is nice that he now knows this so he doesn't get caught asking when he really doesn't want her to take it). Having put on my political strategist hat over this issue for the last couple of days, I have two suggestions for Senator Obama.
First of all, I do NOT believe that he should put her on the ticket with him. To choose her would go against the very reason his campaign has succeeded (the voters are looking for CHANGE) in addition to giving the Republicans a target to shoot at that they all know and LOVE to shoot at: Bill and Hillary Clinton. I believe that he should either pick A. Kathleen Sabelius, the Democratic Governor of Kansas OR B. Chuck Hagel, the Republican Senator from Nebraska. Two very different choices but both bring different parts of the electorate to the table.
Now, if he REALLY feels that he needs to ask (or even if he truly wants to ask) Senator Clinton to join him on the ticket, he shouldn't nominate a Vice President... you read that right. Rather, he should nominate a Vice President, a Secretary of State and a Secretary of Defense all on the same day in the same announcement. Senator Clinton as Vice President, Senator Hagel as Secretary of Defense and Senator Biden or Gov. Richardson as Secretary of State. By nominating all three at once he does a few things... first of all, he shifts the focus away from Clinton to the two other positions; he brings a Republican into the fold who has war cred and great respect among many Republicans; he throws the press a curve ball that takes the pressure off of the VP pick. The country already knows Clinton VERY well and this tactic would give the voters two new people to scrutinize while actually showing that Obama IS a different kind of candidate.
Obama has mentioned that he is open to putting forth his cabinet picks throughout the campaign which is a very unorthodox tactic and one that I think the voters would appreciate while putting McCain on the defensive. In this instance however, if he picks Clinton as VP, he could use this tactic to stymie any severe backlash among his supporters, confuse and bewilder the press and put the Republicans on defense.
Thoughts?
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