Dear SD’s, here’s the only viable solution:

1.) Propose a joint ticket with Clinton on top, Obama as VP. She’s earned the top spot by capturing all of the big states and swing states. He is much more acceptable as a VP than she is. She is more qualified and experienced. You can’t afford to lose her supporters no matter how much you try to talk yourselves out of it, The AA community will come around because Barry can get experience in the executive branch, which he desperately needs, and run as her successor in 2016. They just want to see him get there. Why not do it in stages?
2.) Get the Rules and bylaws committee to waive the penalty on FL and MI so that Clinton gets the delegates she needs. You’re going to have to do this anyway. Ok, have Obama do this at a sunlit tableau surrounded by grateful Floridians and Wolverines. Just get on with it already.
3.) Negotiate the deal before the end of the primary season and before anyone hits the magic number, which is illegitimate without Florida and Michigan. If you wait until someone hits it, the possibility of getting the ticket you need starts to approach a limit of minus infinity.
4.) Fire Howard Dean and Donna Brazile ASAP.

I hate the idea of a unity ticket but that’s the only way I will vote for Obama this year- is if he is VP. Think about it because there are some majorly pissed off members of the “old coalition” out there who you are going to lose shortly.

I’m bumping this up from the comments. I know this person is a REAL Republican and this is what she has to say about the proposal above:

Riverdaughter – you know I’m the Republican lurker here. I was just talking to the hubby last night about what a debacle the primary has been with Michigan and Florida. To ignore people’s votes is just wrong. To say “Florida can’t have it’s primary before …” is just wrong. The election needs to be controlled by the will of the people, not the DNC chairman (and that’s what it will come down to). Hillary deserves top billing on the Democratic Ticket and it needs to be done soon. People like me will then have time to compare McCain and Clinton on the issues and make their objective opinion.

There you go. It’s one but I’ll betcha there are others.

One more thing: The way the Democrats have treated the “old coalition” in the past five months has made me realize that I no longer identify with the people who have seized the levers of power of the party. As of today, I am re-registering from Democrat to “unaffiliated” in NJ. If anyone in NJ wants to join me, here is the link.

Late Afternoon Developments- Holding Pattern

My curiosity has been piqued by the following interesting developments:

• Admiral “Fox” Fallon is retiring. Yep, the guy who referred to General Petraeus as “an @$$-kissing, little chicken$hit” is calling it quits. Fallon was the last surviving top military honcho to stand between Dick Cheney and his Iran bombing Viagra. As Jane at FDL points out, retiring means he is free to spill the beans.
• Eliot Spitzer is not resigning today. He may not resign tomorrow. It is unknown when he will resign. Except that the Republicans in the NY State legislature printed the Articles of Impeachment sometime back in January and it would be a shame to waste them. So, it appears that he may be trying to work out a deal to avoid indictment on some of the charges before he beats a hasty retreat. Oh, and apparently, his NY cheesecake was not cool with Silda.
• John Boehner is threatening to close up the House if the president and the telecomms don’t get their way with FISA. There is a deal in the works to not give them blanket immunity but instead bring each infraction before a federal judge to determine whether there is a state secret involved. BUT we forget that Republicans have been in charge of nominating federal judges for the past 28 out of 40 years so what are the chances?
• Pelosi scuttles any chance of a joint Clinton-Obama, Obam-Clinton ticket. Whew! That’s a relief. I guess she knows firsthand what it’s like to be the first female leader in her organization who has a male second in command forced on her who ignores her every word. Well, we’ll see, Nancy. It’s likely you won’t have any say in *this* matter either.

Guys, I don’t have to remind you that 3 out of the 4 items up above are a direct result of Republican skullduggery. They are nasty pieces of work who will scheme right up to the last minute when they are escorted off the premises and just before they leave, someone will give the signal to type “rm *” at the sys admin console while logged in as root at /. (I’ll bet the unix geeks just got a shivver from that)

In the meantime, item 4 shows how much we have let our guard down with respect to the Bushies while Obama has accused Clinton of being the Grand Master of the Chapaqua Branch of the KKK and the Obamaphiles are flipping out over the fact that Hillary says McCain has more national security creds than Barry. And what about the FL and MI delegates, guys? Could you please wrap it up so we can get onto keeping the barbarians from making any further incursions until we can send reinforcements?

Priorities, people!

Well, Alright Then

He said it, not us:

“I don’t understand. If I am not ready, why do you think I would be such a great vice president?” Obama asked the crowd, which gave him a standing ovation during his defense. “I don’t understand.”

“You can’t say he is not ready on day one, then you want him to be your vice president,” Obama continued. “I just want everybody to absolutely clear: I am not running for vice president. I am running to be president of the United States of America.”

Yes, yes, we know you’re not ready but in the interest of unity, we are willing to overlook it and offer you a 4 year, paid internship complete with your own private jet and undisclosed location.

Oh and about those states, there are two that you need to make amends to or you’re not even getting the internship. Seat the Florida delegates and redo Michigan or tell us why these voters are not as important as Alaska and Wyoming.
It’s not the quantity, it’s the quality.

Battle of Wits: Clinton goes first

From the NYTimes:

In another televised interview, Mrs. Clinton said her close race with Mr. Obama might result in a shared ticket. Speaking on CBS’s Early Show, she said, “Well, that may be where this is headed, but of course we have to decide who is on the top of the ticket.” She said her victory in Ohio indicated that the choice should be her.

Oooo, this is fiendishly clever. Here’s what this little blurb was about:

1. The party is divided and she shows leadership by offering a very reasonable solution.
2. She is starting to condition the voters to believe that Obama will work under her. That’s also very reasonable. She wins the experience argument and she’s nailed down the states with the big electoral college votes. Her husband’s administration comes with the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. She’s a known commodity. She’s been more efficient in her strategy even if Obama has managed to wrack up a lot of delegates through states we don’t have a prayer of getting in November. Plus, recent polls suggest that 2/3 of all Democratic voters did not want her to drop out if she hadn’t won Texas, suggesting we *want* a Clinton/Obama ticket (well, *I* don’t but I’ll take what I can get)
3. With this idea floating in the voters’ minds, they can more comfortably vote for her knowing they won’t have to sacrifice one for the other and they can tie this up quickly. She should pull in higher margins in the remaining states.
4. It puts Obama on the defensive. It’s hard to argue with the logic of the solution. All that’s left to decide is who is on top. She beats him on #2 so many voters will find his hesitation to accept such an offer stubborn, petulant and divisive. Clinton can hammer that home by saying that voters want to wrap this up already and concentrate on going after McCain. She boxes him into a corner.
5. It makes it harder for Obama to go negative on her. If there is a public expectation that he will share her ticket, they will want a show of cooperation and comity from both candidates. On the other hand, she can always say, “I tried to unite the party but he wanted none of it.”

Your turn, Barry.

Barry’s first attempt, from the Politico.

On a joint ticket:
“We are just focused on winning the nomination. That is my focus. I respect Sen. Clinton. She has been a tenacious opponent. It is premature to talk about a joint ticket.”

and

“I hope people start asking is what exactly is this foreign experience she is claiming,” he said. “Was she handling crises during this period of time? I haven’t seen any evidence that she is more equipped to handle a crisis.

“She made the experience argument and her ability to handle a crisis, so I think it is important to examine that claim and not just allow her to assert it,” he added. “She has made the argument that she is thoroughly vetted. If the suggestion is somehow that on issue of ethics or disclosure or transparency that she is somehow going to have a better record than I have or could (better) withstand Republican attack, then that should be tested.”

“I believe I am in a much stronger position to run against Republicans,” he said.

Hmmmm, not going to do it, Barry. We just don’t see you beating her on foreign policy especially after she had a hand in getting Madeleine Albright appointed SOS. Then, there’s General Wesley Clark, a Clintonista, remember him?

And as for going after SNL, it’s satire, Barry. They only get involved when the level of absurdity in current events reaches a critical threshold. They are equal opportunity ridiculers. Hillary also gets her share of abuse. But the point of the SNL ribbing in the past few weeks was aimed at the media, not you. Lighten up, already.