Barack Obama has once again disrespected Hillary Clinton.
At a recent town-hall meeting in Raleigh, N.C., the presumptive Democratic nominee for president repeatedly referred to his potential running mate as “he.” Obama used “he” and only “he” when describing the potential qualities he’s looking for in a running mate.
And that pretty much says it all for the Democratic Party and the mess that mostly male political bosses have created for themselves. Their odds to win the White House have diminished and the future of their party hangs in the balance.
Obama is expected to announce his VP choice by the end of the week.
Hillary Clinton is the best choice and the most qualified person to round out the ticket. The New York senator would be Obama’s single most powerful political ally who could help secure the presidency and hold it for many years.
But Obama dismisses Hillary publicly, although more and more polls show the serious trouble he’s in against John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate.
Republicans will applaud if Obama chooses Sen. Joe Biden, as much a Washington insider as anyone, to help him campaign on a platform of change. The only change in Biden is reflected in the suits he wears to the Senate where he has served for almost four decades.
Change?
Please.
Any woman other than Hillary on the Democratic ticket will create more anger among already angry Democrats who supported Hillary for president. These voters, mostly women, will vote to put anybody but Obama in the Oval Office.
Any choice other than Hillary for Obama’s VP is downright laughable.
None possesses the spark needed to propel Obama further into the race against McCain and his choice for vice president.
Now, back to Hillary.
Even if Obama offers her the job in a last minute bid to gain momentum, I hope she declines.
The Democrats need her more than she needs them.
Without her Obama will likely lose in November.
And then Hillary can face off with McCain or whatever Republican surfaces as the nominee in 2012.
I can wait four years to dance the mambo at the inaugural ball with Hillary’s brother, Huey, as we promised each other a few months ago when he and his brother, Tony, appeared on “Corbett.”
If Hillary appears on the Democratic ticket, I’ll vote for the ticket.
I gave my word months ago.
And I said that I’d be voting for her and not for him.
That’s where Democratic Party bosses don’t get it. Countless Democrats like me will vote in November. If the political machine operators add Hillary they win the election.
Dismiss her and lose.
But they can go ahead and risk it, thinking that they’re powerful enough without her to win. They aren’t. But I don’t think they know it.
Without her on the ticket, I’m writing in Hillary as my choice for president. My vote will be a powerful symbolic protest.
Like countless others, I’m with Hillary.
And, like countless other Democrats, I can live with McCain for four years until we line up against him in 2012, assuming Hillary wants to run again. She will have more than enough time to decide.
And the country won’t self-destruct in the meantime. Since we haven’t imploded already under the Bush Administration, we’re on the verge of a come-back. Almost nobody can be worse than Bush.
McCain might even bring us back to some kind of equilibrium where Democrats in Congress actually act like Democrats and hold McCain accountable in ways they never even tried with Bush.
Run Hillary run. Run toward the White House in 2012.
Corbett
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