Why the Dream Ticket is a Nightmare

I wish everyone would stop talking about making Hillary Clinton the Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee. This dream ticket would be a nightmare. And we might wake up to find John McCain in the White House.

Ever since she realized Barack was a real threat to her preordained Presidency, Hillary has argued that he is too inexperienced to be the President. Now he’s too elite, not a down-homer like Hillary. In her recent remarks, she also implied that he just might be too black to win votes from hardworking white folks. She firmly believes she would be the better President and says so at every opportunity.

On his end, Obama has argued that it is time to turn the page in our divisive politics, and many of his supporters undoubtedly agree. They see Hillary as part of the politics of a fading era. Her combative style and low road campaigning go against everything Obama says he stands for.

The argument goes that these primary spats can be smoothed over. I’m not sure that’s true in this case, but let’s say for the sake of argument that Hillary and Barack can bury the hatchet. There’s still a problem. The so-called dream ticket would provide endless fodder for the nonstop “gotcha!” game that has consumed media coverage of the Presidential race (along with math problems involving such oddities as half of a super-delegate). This destructive distraction would far outweigh any benefit to be gained by teaming up in hopes of uniting a divided party.

It will be enough trouble getting the news media on track to focus on issues when there are so many other fun topics, like wayward pastors and Weathermen. We have the Republicans chomping at the bit to go after an official Democratic nominee. We’ve had Presidential debates where virtually every question was designed to trip up the candidate rather than elicit actual policy positions. The last thing the Democrats need is to provide more ammunition for those who would rather we miss the forest (tragically unnecessary and costly war, economy headed toward recession, diminishing infrastructure and safety net, eroding civil rights and unchecked executive power) for the trees (funny middle names, lapel pins, gotcha again!).

“Senator Clinton, you said Senator Obama wasn’t ready to be President, right up until last week. What changed your mind?”

“Senator Obama, who will be running the country on Day 1 – you or Senator Clinton?”

“”Senator Clinton, considering your view that you are the more experienced candidate, will you be acting as a Vice-President in the Cheney mold?”

“Senator Obama, you’ve been sharply critical of the Clinton campaign method. Do you feel different about that now that it’s no longer directed at you?”

And so on. The more the relationship is parsed, the less time will be spent defining the differences between the Democratic nominee and John McCain. The less we will focus on what path our nation should take at this critical moment in its history to regain our footing at home and our standing in the international community.

Then there’s Bill Clinton. He’s been just as divisive as Hillary in this primary campaign. And everyone agrees that it would be beyond awkward to have the former President hanging around the White House as the Second Spouse. Unfortunately for Hillary, with the Clintons it’s still 2-for-1, and that’s not always a good thing.

There’s no bright side. Hillary should not be the Vice-Presidential nominee. What she should do is figure out how she can best deliver her supporters to Obama for the general election, instead of continuing to insist that he’ll never get them. Here’s the dream we desperately need to come true – Hillary Clinton finally being a team player for the Democrats in this election.

Winning in November is not going to be a cakewalk. The Democrats can’t afford the distractions that would come with putting Hillary on the ticket. Whatever the exit strategy is for Hillary, it should not be the Vice-Presidency.