I'm hearing rumors of a plot to ditch Biden from the Democrat ticket and put Hillary Clinton in as VP. I'm just curious to see how that would be received, hence the poll.

PJ

Well, dang it, Pam - you went and got my hopes up there for just a second with that header that Palin was toast.

LabRat

Sorry to disappoint you...

PJ

I would have voted - marking myself as ineligible in the first question - but none of the reactions to the rumour fit me. It's not that I don't think Obama would ever choose Clinton as his running mate: if polling data and other evidence showed her to be the most politically-astute pick, I think he'd have chosen her. It's not that I don't think Hillary would ever say yes: I think if she'd been asked she'd have jumped at the chance. (Though asked as such a public second choice? I don't think so).

I don't think it would happen simply because I can't for one second imagine that either campaign would switch running-mates partway through. I'd have thought that any ground they might gain from having a 'better' running-mate would be more than lost through the ridicule and bad publicity that would result. For the rest of the campaign, Clinton would be dogged with the label 'second choice'. Obama would be portrayed as indecisive, inexperienced and unreliable, with evidence and media footage to back up the charge.

So, no, I don't see it happening. Where are you hearing these rumours, Pam?


Wendy

I hadn't heard it as a 'rumor' but as a general question on talk shows 'so do you think Obama should replace Biden?'

And Biden wouldn't be *dropped*, but rather would have some health crisis or something so that he felt he wouldn't be able to serve as well as possible or something like that.

I think that Obama should have at least vetted her and then said he'd decided to go a different route or something like that. I don't know that she would have accepted it as offered. I think the rumors from four years ago *may* hold true here as well. The rumors were that the Clintons wanted Kerry to lose so that she could run this year in an open field rather than against an incumbent Dem president [don't ask me where I heard them because I don't remember - and I did hear them this year but I don't remember where either - probably along the same lines as the ones above].

I put possible because it wouldn't surprise me to see a change in the ticket, but I don't think it would be Hillary but someone else - don't ask me who.

Carol

I agree.

And I agree about the Hillary thing. I wanted to note that whatever Obama would gain from party unity might be lost with the whole "post-partisan" narrative--if I'm recalling correctly that was a winning argument against her.

I should say, I don't really believe it (I don't put stock in narratives much), but I think she was percieved as being really entrenched in the establishment by fellow dems, imo.

I think Biden, however, has the foreign policy thing stand out the most, which is a more necessary sell for the center. And no, I lurk in a lot of left spaces and heard nothing about a change. There's always the debate

I think a lot dems actually like Biden in general, they just don't like he's so conventional in the face of Palin's newness.

I believe that's a common sentiment across party lines in this "change" year.

alcyone

I agree, Wendy, and I don't think it's at all likely to happen. But I've seen references to the scenario on various blogs (and we *know* how incredibly truthful and trustworthy blogs are! ), and I thought it was an interesting idea. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on the part of his opponents

Sorry the poll options didn't fit you!

PJ

I don't think Obama is going to back down on his first choice. Like others said, that would just make him seem indecisive. And for that reason alone, I think it would be bad for him if he did so.

Ann

There is one more reason why I think it would be a bad idea for Obama to exchange Joe Biden for Hillary Clinton as his VP choice. While Clinton and Biden are different as politicians, and it would certainly be possible to argue that Clinton is more competent than Biden, the most obvious difference between the two of them is of course that Clinton is a woman and Biden is a man. If Obama suddenly exchanged Biden for Clinton, he would effectively be saying to a majority of the American voters that he now realizes that a female VP is better than a male one because a VP's gender matters more than his or her beliefs, competence or qualifications. That, however, would shift everybody's attention even more from the political issues themselves - the financial crisis, the energy question, America's foreign policy etc. - to the the candidates' own persons. The fact that Barack Obama is black is probably more of a drawback than an advantage for him, and precisely because of that he should try to focus on the issues and not on the race or gender of the politicians.

Ann