A moment wished by a lot of Americans is finally here. First time a black man become the presidential nominee of a major party. Hillary Clinton finally expressed her willingness to endorse him (conditionaly) just now and many super deligates announced their support for ObamaHillary Clinton's speech yesterday in New York did not have any sign of she conceding rather she demanded that her popularity and the 18 million votes she won should be 'acknowledged'. In other words, she wants something before she endorses Obama - May be VP ticket or something else. People close to her says she is looking at the VP ticket but not sure that's the only thing Clinton mechine wants. Of course there were some negotiations happening between the Clinton, Obama and Democratic circles but as of now there is no sign from Obama's side to suggest that Clinton tops his list of VPs. Obama's St. Paul rally speech did acknowledge Hillary's contributions to America and the tone was reconciling.
Also its interesting to note that how quickly the tone of the campaigns changes. Followers are quickly getting soberer now as they see a possibility of a joint ticket. May be public are fools -Last 16 months both sides fought so hard to defend their candidates and now their leaders preach the need of a great united 'democratic party' and betray them sweetly. May be the independents are the most hurt group as they have nothing to fall back on .
Its not clear whether Hillary Clinton is going to be Obama's VP ticket. I feel that's a possibility as she does bring a lot of value into the up coming race but not sure the trouble she brings outweigh the value. Obama took many decisions unconventionally (conventional wisdom is that Hillary is a tough one to control or manage OR she comes with Bill Clinton baggage etc) , so taking Hillary as a VP would be one such and he will defend it through a nice speech to his followers.
While Hillary Clinton is taking her own sweet time to make a public announcement about her stepping down, everybody is speculating what her future would be. Its quite clear that Obama is under tremendous pressure from all quarters to pick her as a VP. The Clintons also hinted that they are not interested in an unconditional support for the sake of their party. Clintons back in Whitehouse could be a nightmare but its not something Obama cannot manage. Many presidents have made their VPs low profile ( in Case of Clinton Al-Gore ticket, it was a public information that Hillary Clinton acted more like a VP and Al Gore was sidelined many times) but it could attract more resentments from the senior leaders and Clinton loyalists in the future . So the question is why getting into all those trouble since you have an option of not getting into the trouble in the first place.
Wall Street Journal summed it up best:
“There are many experienced Democrats who would make suitable running mates, and for the purposes of governing Mr. Obama needs to pick someone he can work with. Above all, he can't appear to bend to ultimatums from the House of Clinton. This is a test of Mr. Obama's political judgment and toughness. If he can't stand up to Hillary and Bill Clinton, forget about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”
Now what if the VP ticket does not happen ? Hillary could return to Senate for her full time job. Like Ted Kennedy , she could become a wonderful law maker over a period of time. She could also become Governor of a State and wait for her next turn to become president.
Regardless what's goign to happen in the general election, Obama's ascend to the Democratic nominee was in the headlines of newspapers all over the world. Probably that was something people expected from a democracy like America. Obama hardly mentions his minority status in his speeches and the fact is that he is one of the smartest polititian presently around.
