The battle for the Democratic nomination has been unique for many reasons, not the least of which has been the fact that neither candidate has really been able to generate and then maintain momentum enough to seal the nomination (see Obama after Iowa, Clinton after New Hampshire, Obama after his post Feb. 5th run and Clinton after March 4th.) Each candidate's inability to make momentum stick has been reflected not only in electoral results that counter the then prevailing winds, but also in the national polling, especially the daily tracking polls, which have see-sawed between Clinton and Obama for weeks. Last week, in an apparent response to the Obama's well-received speech on race as well as the controversy over Clinton's sniper fire claims, Obama appeared to perhaps begin to pull away. Today, however, the rolling averages in both the Rasmussen tracking poll and the Gallup tracking poll are ticking back in Clinton's direction.
Obama 51 (52, 50...)
Clinton 43 (42, 43...)
Obama 46 (47, 48...)
Clinton 43 (42, 42...)
It's too early, of course, to know whether or not this will continue or if it's a daily quirk (or it could be due to what Pollster's Mark Blumenthal calls the day-of-week effect) but if recent history is a guide, it's likely just the latest return of the race back to what is essentially a draw, a further sign that Obama and Clinton are likely to trade the national lead through the June contests.
Now, obviously a presidential contest can't actually be a draw, there has to be a winner and a loser, which is why this proposal from Gov. Mario Cuomo yesterday was so intriguing:
Who can solve the problem?Obama and Clinton can - by putting aside personal irritations, and to some extent personal aspirations, and agreeing to end the hostilities and form a ticket that offers both of them, a candidate for president and a candidate for vice president who is clearly good enough to serve as president, should the occasion arise. That candidate for vice president would also have a good chance of being elected president eight years from now because neither of the two would be too old in 2016. If they are not capable of doing that, the two could announce they will complete the primary schedule and convention with the winner becoming candidate for president and the other agreeing to be a candidate for vice president, thereby mollifying to some extent the constituency of the candidate who was not chosen as the nominee for president.
Think of it, over the next eight years we could elect both the first woman and the first African-American to become president. That's not a dream: It's a plausible, achievable, glorious possibility - if our two remaining candidates have the personal strength and wisdom to make it happen. The joint statement announcing their agreement would rock the nation and resound across the globe - sweeter than any political poetry; smarter and more meaningful than any tightly intelligent political prose.
While conventional wisdom would have it that this "dream ticket" is an impossibility due to the divisive nature of the primary recently, Cuomo's framing it as a means of uniting the party and giving supporters the best of both worlds could give it renewed momentum, especially since supporters of both are likely to feel their candidate's not being on the ticket would be akin to having been robbed. Now, Obama has always been my first choice for Clinton's VP pick should she win the nomination, but thinking about possible VP picks for him, I keep coming back to Hillary Clinton, mostly because she complements him both in style and constituency support. I really do think no matter who is on the top of such a ticket, it would be absolutely unbeatable. That is, as long as partisans on each side can swallow their pride should their candidate be relegated to the VP slot.
|
|
|
Permalink :: 114 Comments :: Post a Comment
|
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.
