Palin: McCain's Most Compelling Choice

NOTE TO BLOG BUNKER LISTENERS ON SIRIUS (BUT NOT TOO SERIOUS) RADIO: This is my main, national blog. The other blogs I'll mention are the Hillary Supporters site (http://hillarysupportersformccainb.blogspot.com and the Pennsylvania site: http://pennsylvaniaforjohnmccain.blogspot.com. Other blogs I'll try to mention include:
the main Palin web site: http://palinforvp.blogspot.com
the Moms4McCain site: http://moms4mccain.blogspot.com
the Bev Perlson military moms site: http://thebandofmothers.com
the Tom Manion web site: http://votemanion.com.
the primary McCain discussion site: http://mccainnow.com.

If you have any questions, e-mail me at: TalkTop65@aol.com. Thanks!

You will read things here that the national media will start covering next month. On my Hillary Supporters site and on my PA site, I talk about a national group of Hillary supporters who are targeting for defeat "SuperDelegates" who gave Sen. Clinton the shaft (voting for Obama against the wishes of their constituents. Such individuals include John Kerry of MA and Jay Rockefeller of WV, among many others.

Can't go to bed tonight (Monday) without asking you to check out my Hillary Supporters for McCain site. It contains information about the most amazing political movement I've sene in my lifetime: Hillary Supporters who "mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore." Fascinating . . . I will be on Sirius Radio from NY at 5:30 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday.

On my Pennsylvania blog I've received an important request from Tom Manion, Republican congressional candidate in PA's 8th district. It deals with an important online poll. Manion, a Marine Corps veteran, lost his son Travis in the Iraq War. Please visit the site for information. http://pennsylvaniaforjohnmccain.blogspot.com/.



Sarah Palin sorrounded by veterans of the Vietnam War. Sarah's son, Track, age 18, is an infantry soldier in the U.S. Army. She's widely regarded as the frontrunner for the GOP's V-P nomination.

"Sarah is not an ordinary mortal. She truly has no downside."

I proclaimed to the world yesterday that prominent national security writer Jack Kelly (who writes for major newspapers in Pennsylvania and Ohio) has strongly endorsed Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska for the GOP ticket. Kelly is an unusual combination - a former Marine, a former Special Forces soldier and a former candidate for Congress (he lost, alas).

In his column, Jack Kelly says "most [presidential candidates] will settle for a veep who isn't a drag on the ticket, as Dan Quayle was for the first President Bush." He might have added, "Or, as Dick Cheney apparently was on the second President Bush."

Kelly adds, "The potential [McCain] running mates most often discussed have downsides nearly as great as their upsides."

He adds, "Gov. Tim Pawlenty helps only in Minnesota, and not enough, according to current polls, to make a difference there. Mr. McCain's friend, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, would bring in some moderate Democrats but could further antagonize conservatives already suspicious of Mr. McCain.

"Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts would have little appeal to working-class whites unhappy with Sen. Barack Obama, and evangelicals fret about that Mormon thing. A Mike Huckabee nomination would irritate economic . . . conservatives as much as it would please evangelicals. Louisiana Gov.

Bobby Jindal is a rising star. But he's only 36, and he's been governor for less than a year."
The men - key word - Kelly mentions are all people of talent. One of them (Jindal?) may end up as President someday. But Jack Kelly is right about their downsides.

According to pundit lore, Pawlenty could help McCain win the "battleground" (sorta) state of Minnesota. However, he won re-election there by only 21,000 votes out of 2.3 million cast. He was lucky to carry Minnesota himself. Bulletin to John McCain: you aren't going to carry Minnesota with or without Pawlenty.

Mitt's Romney's problem is that he strikes many people as inauthentic. They don't believe his latter-day conversion to pro-life and anti-illegals views. They see him as ambitious to a fault. Also, in the primaries, he seemed to win only states either dominated by Mormons (Utah) or characterized by the fact Mitt Romney grew up there (Michigan).

Bobby Jindal is a mixture of ability and oddness. A few months ago he was interviewed on CNN, and the questioner couldn't get him to say whether he endorsed John McCain . . . or Barack Obama. With Jindal around, McCain might need a food taster.

As Kelly implies, Joe Lieberman - a fine man and a patriot - would be an awful choice. He came close to losing his seat in Connecticut. Most Democrats despise him, and most Republicans would rather see someone else on the ticket.

Mike Huckabee is a candidate whose campaign was almost as tenacious as Hillary Clinton's He's chronically underestimated by the national media. However, it's hard to see what he could bring to the ticket that Sarah Palin can't.

She's just as "Christian" as Mike, but has less of a tendency to wear it on her sleeve. Also, she has pro-life credentials (having opted to give birth to a Down Syndrome child) that no other politician can match.

What works against Sarah is tradition - specifically, the Republican tradition of making very bad choices for Vice President. Barry Goldwater chose William Miller, an obscure (and deservedly so) Congressman from Lockport, New York. Nixon chose Spiro Agnew specifically to help him carry Maryland - which didn't happen - but lack of popularity turned out to be the least of Agnew's faults.

George H. W. Bush famously chose Quayle, who struck most people as a simpleton. Bob Dole chose Jack Kempt, but the wretched Republican campaign could have been won if Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were on the ticket.

George W. Bush chose Dick Cheney, supposedly a "solid" pick. In fact, Cheney - holed up mainly in his "undisclosed location" (the Bat Cave?), turned out to be the Darth Vader of contemporary politics.

The only "problem" with Sarah Palin is that she's such an obvious choice. As my friend in Boston puts it, she's a no-brainer. Some people invent shortcomings, such as the fact that she's beautiful and was - and is - a great athlete, the kind of person who runs - and finishes - marathons.

In my previous column I listed the groups for whom Sarah has great appeal: young people, military families, working mothers, women professionals, pro-lifers, hunters, working-class voters (her husband being one), fitness and health advocates, and ethics-in-government people. I didn't add Alaskans, where Sarah's approval ratings hover around 90%.

She's also a ferocious campaigner. In her race for Governor, she first unseated the incumbent Republican, Frank Murkowski. Then, she in the general, she beat a popular former Governor (and Democrat) Tony Knowles. That was in 2006, which was generally a very bad year for Republicans.

If John McCain doesn't choose Sarah Palin, he might have to plead temporary insanity. As I've said, "Sarah Palin is no ordinary mortal." I've also said that she's "Mt. Rushmore material." I certainly hope John McCain takes the first major step in proving me right.

Link to Jack Kelly's column: http://post-gazette.com/forum

BULLETIN: Palin Receives MEGA-Endorsement

On my Pennsylvania blog I've received an urgent request from Tom Manion, Republican congressional candidate in PA's 8th district. It deals with an important online poll. Manion, a Marine Corps veteran, lost his son Travis in the Iraq War. Please visit the site for information. http://pennsylvaniaforjohnmccain.blogspot.com.

Important Note: This afternoon (Monday) I'll have up another column going into some detail about the Kelly endorsement of Sarah Palin (see below) and the criticality of the vice-presidential choices this year. If you want to see the column a little early, e-mail me at: TalkTop65@aol.com, and I'll send it immediately. Thanks so much for visiting. (I love the pic below of Sarah.) On my Hillary Supporters for McCain site I have a guest column by a Black woman strongly endorsing John McCain.

Sarah Palin receives major endorsement for V-P and is now frontrunner for a slot on the McCain ticket.

"Sarah Palin is no ordinary mortal."




Bulletin: Today one of the nation's most important conservative columnists, Jack Kelly of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade, endorsed Sarah Louise Heath Palin of Alaska for the vice-president slot on John McCain's ticket. Please tell everyone in the blogo-verse! Good for Jack! He calls her McCain's "secret weapon" and a major key to victory. He calls her "a running mate who's got it all."


Sarah's candidacy is critical to the victories of Republican candidates like Melissa Hart (PA), Toni Gilhooley (PA), Dana Walsh (CA), Marina Kats (PA), and many others. Jack's column is at: http://post-gazette.com/forum.


Please scroll down to the previous column to read about what groups Sarah Palin should help attract. It's a long list.


On my Hillary Supporters for McCain site I have an important column by an African-American woman who's strongly backing John McCain.

Hillary Clinton Versus Sarah Palin

As the world rightly focuses on the McCain-Obama contest, a battle is shaping up behind the scene -- one that pits two powerful women -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Gov. Sarah Heath Palin -- against one another. Why is Sarah Palin the woman the Democrats fear most? I'll try to answer that today (Sunday). If you scan through the previous columns, you'll find comments on both women.

Gov. Sarah Heath Palin welcoming home Alaskan soldiers who fought in Iraq. Gov. Palin's son, Track, age 18, is an infantry soldier in the U.S. Army.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton giving her concession speech on Saturday, June 10

Sarah Palin may very well be John McCain's choice for V-P on the Republican ticket. Barack Obama apparently doesn't want Hillary to be his V-P choice, but for purely political reasons he may choose her anyway.

Why do the Democrats fear the presence of Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket? In part, it's her legendary toughness (they don't call her "Sarah Barracuda" for no reason). But her main strength is her strong appeal to critical groups of voters. Consider:

Married women: Sarah's marriage to Todd Palin gives every evidence of being a model relationship. Sarah and Todd were childhood sweethearts, and they eloped shortly after she graduated from high school.

Young people: Sarah is only 44, and she exude youthfulness and energy. She has children ranging in age from 18 (son Track) to a few weeks (son Trig).

Military families: Sarah and Todd are a military family. Their son Track enlisted in the U.S. Army Infantry on September 11, 2007. It's extremely likely he will see combat duty in either Afghanistan or Iraq, or both.

Families with children: The Palins have five children, three of them teenagers, as well as daughter Piper, age 7, and baby Trig (a Norwegian name).

Reagan Democrats: Palin has the highest approval ratings of any major elected official in the U.S. -- in the 90% range. That means she's gained approval from the vast majority of Democrats.

Women professionals (journalists, teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, and businesswomen): Sarah is the consummate female professional, having served as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, and as governor of the state. Her college degree is in journalism. Her parents both served as public school teachers.

Working families: Sarah's husband, Todd, has labored his entire adult life as a commercial fisherman and an oil field production worker. The couple's links to working families go far beyond the usual political rhetoric.

Gun owners: Sarah is an avid hunter and a life-member of the National Rifle Association.

Pro-Life social conservatives: When Sarah found out that her unborn son, Trig, had Down Syndrome, she and her husband elected to have the child. Her point was that God has a purpose for every human being. When Trig was born, the Palins' press release began with thse word, "God has blessed us . . . ." The fascinating point was that they meant every word of it.

Evangelical Christians: Sarah is an evangelical Christian. However, she doesn't wear her religious faith on her sleeve. She is not anti-gay and does not scapegoat people who disagree with her.

People concerned about energy and the environment: As governor of Alaska, Sarah is among the best-informed elected officials on both issues. She's head of the energy committee at the Republican Governors Association and is a strong advocate of level-headed conservation of natural resources.

Overall, there's no other Republican that brings more to the table than Sarah Palin. She has exceptionally wide appeal. She would help John McCain with many groups with which he's currently weak (including young people and women professionals).

Of supreme importance: Sarah could be particularly helpful in battleground states with large numbers of working class voters, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.

In 2012 (if Obama wins this year or if McCain elects to serve just one term) or 2016, the presidential face-off could pit Sarah Palin against Hillary Clinton. One imagines that it would be a battle royal.

Note: I hope everyone will visit my Hillary Supporters for McCain column. It contains a guest column by a Black woman from North Carolina -- a Hillary supporter -- who is now strongly backing McCain.

Hillary Chooses Party Over Country

Hillary's Speech: "A tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." (MacBeth)

"In her ferociously waged campaign, Sen. Clinton made many friends. Today, with one cynicial -- and pervasively political -- speech, she lost many of them."

"I would rather lose an election than lose a war." (John McCain) Does anyone believe Senators Clinton and Obama are capable of uttering a similar sentiment?

Senator Clinton's address today was well-delivered but substantively empty. She reminded me a great deal of Roseanne Roseanna Dann (Gilder Radner) on the old "Saturday Night Live." She was the one who wildly misunderstood political concept and, when that was pointed out to her, would say, "Oh, never mind."

Today, Sen. Clinton gave us a tagline for her presidential campaign: "Oh, never mind." It was, as Shakespeare said in Macbeth, "a tale full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Sen. Clinton's speech today was one that valued Party over Country, which is profoundly disturbing. In her campaign, she raised serious question about Barack Obama's fitness to be President. In today's speech, she did not deal with -- or resolve -- those questions. Are we really to believe that when that 3 a.m. call arrives on the red phone that Obama has suddenly become ready to answer?

In the campaign, Obama and his surrogates branded Senator Clinton (and supporters like Geraldine Ferraro and Bill Clinton) as racists, liars, and warmongers. Any comment on those points Mrs. Clinton? "Oh, never mind." I guess it's just all "politics -- i.e., meaningless, trivial, hot air. "Oh, never mind."

Does she want us to believe that he has suddenly transformed himself into some who can deal effectively with great challenges? Is the man -- Obama -- that Bill Clinton said last week had "slimed" his wife through surrogates like Rev. Wright and Father Pfleger now a man of decency?

Mrs. Clinton told us this afternoon how great the Democratic Presidents of our lifetime had been. Oh really? President Carter with high inflation, high unemployment, a terrible energy crisis, and Americans languishing captive in Iran? President Johnson engaged in an endless conflict in Vietnam? President Clinton entertaining Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office? Those are not good memories, Hillary.

Presidents Johnson, Carter, and Clinton were all men who valued Party slightly more than country -- and they did great damage to their nation. In the campaign, Hillary Clinton spoke some hard truths about the inadequacies of her opponent. Today, she delivered a speech, one written by someone else, that was in total conflict with everything she said over the past two years. It was certainly not her finest hour. The people who supported Hilary's historic campaign should be very dismayed at what she said today.

If you want to read about a woman of real courage and toughness, you'll find one right below. She values country and family first, and she's a critic of her Party when it falls short of its obligations. Mrs. Clinton feels her Party is perfect, and that's just one of the ways she fails to live up to the standards manifested by Gov. Palin. Sarah is America's future. Hillary Clinton is a fading remnant of America's past.

In Sen. Clinton's ferociously waged campaign, she made many friends. Today, with one cynical -- and pervasively political -- speech, she lost a lot of them.

A tough governor, Alaska's Sarah Palin, with some equally tough soldiers from her state. Gov. Palin's 18-year-old son, Track, is in the U.S. Army infantry. He enlisted on September 11, 2007. A lot high elected officials talk a great deal about how they "support our troops." Obviously, Gov. Palin's support -- and personal involvement -- goes ways beyond rhetoric.

Is this the woman who will face off against Hillary Clinton for the presidency in 2012 or 2016? A growing number of observers believe that will the case. Sarah is regularly called "America's most popular governor," a designation coined by Weekly Standard editor and FOX News commentator Fred Barnes. If you'd like to know why Gov. Palin is so widely admired, please read the Barnes article. http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/851orcjq.asp

This Saturday and Sunday, I'll be writing about Sarah Palin on this site -- with a separate piece on my Hillary Supporters blog. After Sen. Clinton's speech this Saturday, I'll discuss why Hillary Supporters (and others) should be urging Sen. McCain to put Mrs. Palin on the Republican ticket.

Today, on my Pennsylvania blog, I have a posting about the many qualities Gov. Palin brings to the table -- why she has broad appeal to many important groups. If you'd like read more right now about Sarah's many strengths, please visit that site.


The founder of the Draft Sarah Palin movement, Adam Brickley, writes almost daily about Sarah at his site: http://palinforvp.blogspot.com. He's been receiving thousands of "hits" daily. Adam, a 21-year-old and recent college graduate, illustrates what one energized person can accomplish in today's America.

More to follow after Mrs. Clinton speech at noon.




On Tuesday, June 10, I'll be on Sirius radio, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time. On that national broadcat, I'll be discussing Sarah Palin and why John McCain should name her to the ticket. I hope you'll listen -- and call in if you'd like.

Hillary Supporters: Barack Obama Despicable

Gov. Sarah Palin after signing bill benefiting soldiers of the Alaska National Guard. Sarah's and Todd Palin's son, Track, age 18, is an infantryman in the U.S. Army. He and and his best friend both enlisted on September 11, 2007.

Below: Alaska Gov. Sarah Heath Palin with baby son Trig swaddled. Picture is with Sarah and legislators on capital steps in Juneau. Sarah is now the front-runner for the GOP vice presidential nomination. This weekend I'll have separate columns about Gov. Palin on this national blog and my "Hillary Supporters for McCain" blog. I urge you to bookmark these sites and visit them often.

The biggest buzz in the blogosphere nowadays reflects the vast number of Hillary Clinton supporters who intend to vote for McCain. As I explain on my Hillary Supporters for McCain blog -- the original such site -- one of the Hillary supporters for McCain may be the New York Senator herself.

Here's the link: Doesn't Hillary Really Favor McCain?

On the above linked column at that popular site, I assert the following: Tomorrow, Senator Clinton will endorse a man she despises: Barack Obama.

Her heart definitely will not be in it.More to follow here about why I believe Hillary Clinton will be "blowing smoke" at us in her Saturday endorsement of Barack Obama. She's going to have her fingers crossed. Everything Sen. Clinton does between now and November 4 is going to be based not on the 2008 election, but on the one in 2012. Right now, she's in full "grin-and-bear-it" mode. Conversely, her supporters are not grinning -- and, as we hear in the movie "Network," they're "not going to take it any more."

Let's see, what did Barack and his surrogates (including Rev. Wright and Father Pfleger) say about Hillary? That she's a chronic liar, that she's a warmonger (for supporting the Iraq War Resolution), and a racist. They also profoundly misrepresented the assasination of Bobby Kennedy. Other than those things, I guess, they feel she's okay.

Hillary was badly trashed in the Democratic primaries. And the person running the trash machince was none other than Barack Obama. His windy rhetoric somehow prevailed over Sen. Clinton's issues-oriented campaign. As history will record, he scooped up such huge majorities in Black communities that Sen. Clinton had no real chance to win enough delegates.

In the primaries, Blacks voting in lock-step for Obama was somehow an issue of pride. In contrast, white voters supporting Clinton apparently was a manifestation of racism. As Obama put it, the Clinton supporters were "bitter" people, "clinging" to their religion, guns, and racial prejudices. That "contrasted" with his supporters, whose heart were supposedly pure.

No wonder so many Hillary Supporters are sickened by the outcome. Senator Clinton has a political history of supporting causes favored by American Blacks. Her "reward" for that record has been to be characterized as a racist.

American Politics: The Real "Skinny"

By 4:30 p.m. today ET I'd had 259 visitors (wow) and nearly 400 hits. The old record was 257. You may just have set the new one. Thanks. I do believe you can find information here that isn't available elsewhere. The beautiful woman below (Sarah Palin) may just be America's first woman President (2012 or 2016)
Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska with husband Todd and newborn son "Trig"

Will you be reading about any of this on the national media? Nope. Please tell your friends and family that this site exists . . . Thanks . . .

The McCain Campaign: Early in the game, the campaign is not exactly a "well-oiled machine." It is still having problems raising the necessary funds. The Senator still needs a top-flight speechwriter (I've suggested myself, since I've written successfully for CEOs at 10 of America's top 50 companies). Some of the people on the McCain payroll proceed under the illusion that they can ask congressional candidates for support -- without providing them them with the same. That will never, ever happen. Things will get better, mainly because they must. Good news? The unofficial campaign is proceeding very well, picking up tens of thousands of supporters. Please join that unofficial efforts at http://mccainnow.com/.

Congressional Candidates: If the McCain Campaign has difficulties, the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee) is a disaster. It's under the leadership of Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole, who has a defeatist mentality. The NRCC sees its major function as pouring millions into candidates who shouldn't be running for office in the first place. They delight in financing candidates who should be able to generate their own money. There will have to be changes in the leadership of the NRCC -- and, frankly, the RNC (Republican National Committee). Those changes will take place shortly after November 4, 2008.

Sarah Palin for V-P Effort: This is very much a good news story. Sarah Palin probably has a 50-50 chance of getting the V-P nod from John McCain. Almost two years ago, Adam Brickley, a 21-year-old college student in Colorado Springs started the "Draft Palin" movement. I was the second person Adam signed up, and I worked my tail off to bring more people on board. At first, Adam -- a model of what tenacious activism can accomplish -- had to explain to people who Gov. Palin was. Now, in the past two weeks, many important bloggers have endorsed Sarah (including "Flap," The Anchoress, The Catskill Commentator, and numerous others). Yesterday, Adam's site -- http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/ -- received 5,000 hits, a monumental number. (It took this site a year-and-a-half to get 40,000 hits. If you want to support Sarah -- and many of you do -- go to MSNBC's "Veepstakes" site and vote for her in the cable channel's "Veepstakes." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

The Hillary Clinton Soap Opera: It was Sigmund Freud who posed the famous question: "What does a woman want?" On my Hillary Supporters for McCain site, I attempt daily to figure out what's on Mrs. Clinton's mind. This Saturday she's supposedly going to endorse Barack Obama in a display of "party unity." I'll believe it when I see it. Senator Clinton has repeatedly made the point that point that Obama is not "ready" (i.e., qualified) to be President. Is something going to change in the next few days to make him ready? Please visit my Hillary site for updates on the continuing political soap opera.

"Operation Pennsylvania": On my Pennsylvania blog, I'm doing my darndest to get people around the nation (and the world) to "adopt" some outstanding Pennsylvania congressional candidates. The effort is expanding beyond Pennsylvania (see below), and I'm getting help from many significant bloggers around the country, including Kathy Morrison (NH), Sharon Caliendo (OK), Jean Avery (Washington), Rajan Vaish (computer genius from India), Jim Fryar (Australian mining engineer), Brad Marston (MA), Beth Cleavere (AL), Ted Mol (MA), Tym Machine (Montreal) and numerous others. Pennsylvania is going to be a major battleground state in the presidential and congressional elections. (I'll write more soon about the "internationalizing" of the McCain effort.)

Dana Walsh "Adoption" Campaign: In San Francisco, two of the candidates for the congressional seat there are Cindy Sheehan and Nancy Pelosi, the twin "Witches of the West." The Republican candidate is Dana Walsh, and she needs your backing, your prayers . . . and your money (small amounts or large). Please visit her web site at: http://danawalshforcongress.com/.
The material you're going to see here is unlike any you'll see on other blogs. The national media? It's hopeless, providing little insight into what's happening in America. Remember, your contribution to congressional candidate Dana Walsh can strike a blow for the real America.

Presidential Troika: Barack, Hillary, Bill

Let's make a major effort to support Republican congressional candidate Dana Walsh. I am going to put up on every blog (and I have a bunch) an appeal to send a contribution to Ms. Walsh. She's pro-military and running against Cindy Sheehan and Nancy Pelosi, "the witches of the West." I hope a whole lot of people online will feature Dana Walsh at: http://danawalshforcongress.com. Her web site is terrific. It has pics of Sheehan and Pelosi playing huggy-bear with dictators (Chavez and Assad). Please contribute what you can to this courageous woman.

I put up late Tuesday columns on: (1) the Pennsylvania blog about a new, unified, national effort to elect Republican candidates; (2) the Hillary Supporters for McCain blog about the Obama campaign and its surrogates "sliming" (Bill Clinton's word) Mrs. Clinton. If you're a "mom," you'll want to take a look at Jean Avery's blog: http://moms4mccain.blogspot.com/. (On the Hillary Supporters site, I have a picture of Bill's supposed girlfriend (Gina Gershon), as well as a quote from a friend in Ambridge, who said, "As Bill gets older, the girlfriends get better looking." Can't quarrel with that.)


The pundits last night didn't really "interpret" Mrs. Clinton's "concession speech" (more properly, her "non-concession speech"). Instead, they mainly had a befuddled look on their faces. Some wondered if she was not perhaps launching the first shot in the 2012 campaign for the presidency.


I suggested that the next presidential election -- the one after this year's -- might end up pitting Senator Clinton on the Democratic side against Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the Republicans. (In this scenario, President John McCain would have -- as we said in business -- "elected to take early retirement."


Of course, the major question the Senator left is whether she wants the vice presidential nod. David Gergen suggested that Mrs. Clinton seemed to be indicating that she wanted Senator Obama to agree to some sort of "coalition" government -- or perhaps a co-presidency. On that point, what about a "troika," that would have three equal parts: Barack, Hillary, and -- of course -- Bill?


The problem with Hillary as a vice-presidential nominee is this: she has supplied the Republicans with all sorts of ammunition. Famously, she once said, "I have a lifetime of experience; Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience; Senator Obama has a speech [against the Iraq War] that he delivered in 2002." When Obama runs against McCain, he will hear those words used in ads -- again and again and again.


Mrs. Clinton's slogan in her campaign was "Ready on Day 1." She has implied that John McCain would also be ready to serve as President on Day 1. Of course, her words mean that Obama would NOT be ready. If she thought the Illinois Senator had the appropriate readiness (and as Prince Hamlet said, "The readiness is all"), then her slogan would have made no sense.


Bill Clinton said on June 2 that the Obama campaign was "sliming" his wife. Again, if Hillary Clinton accepts (the proper word may be "seizes") the vice-presidential nod, Bill Clinton's words just might ring throughout the fall campaign. The former President indicated that Obama is relying on "surrogates" to hurl mud at his wife.

Are Hillary and Bill Clinton really ready to mend fences with Obama?


Are they willing to say, in essence, "all is forgiven, Barack. We really didn't mean all those nasty things we said about you." Is this to be a ticket that contains a undertone of the following: "It's true that I said Barack wouldn't be ready on day 1; however, since he will have me with him (in the White House? perhaps the Lincoln Bedroom?), he won't have to worry about not being quite ready. He'll have my 'help.'"


And what would the presence of Mrs. Clinton on the ticket do to Obama's seminal message of change? In fact, the "Billary" triplex would be a continuing reminder of the ghosts of American politics past. Barack would learn that it's impossible to fire a vice-president (or a former President).


For Senator McCain, campaigning against an Obama-Clinton team might not be the daunting task it appears to be yesterday. The Republican message -- one of them -- is going to highlight Obama's unsuitability for the highest office. And the main "spokesperson" for that position might not be John McCain, but rather Hillary Clinton -- with occasional assists from her husband.


Let the games begin!