More on the (bad) dream ticket

TNR's David Bell lists ten reasons the "unity ticket" is a bad idea. He's right.

Comments

[aeromusek]

It's not directly related, but since Bell mentions it...I'm glad the country has been [at least temporarily] Bushed-out. Because Jeb, unlike his older brother, is far from incompetent and certainly NOT stupid. He is someone Democrats should fear greatly.

[Mad Max, Esquire]

Jeb Bush comes off as a bigger prick than his brother.

As for the Hillary thing, I agree. I believe the Republicans have a boatload of gals lined up to go public with how Bill has been banging them behind Hillary's back for the past eight years. Hillary would never stay with Wright as her pastor, but she stays with "Saturday Night" Bill?

[toby]

Putting Hilary on the ticket would be a disaster!!

The Republicans would just replay all the negative things she said about Obama. The election would be about the disunity of the "Unity" ticket. The last things the Dems need (and one of the things the Republicans wanted and hoped for) is for the election to be "about" Hilary Clinton.

In fact the Republicans would have a point. Some of the people mentioned for cabinet posts are Democrats who remained outside the Clinton tent. You can imagine Hilary and Bill trying to swing cabinet posts and appointments for their own faction. Cue internal faction fighting and squabbling!

Only a Lincoln was able to appoint all his rivals to cabinet posts and still dominate them all. Obama should not set the bar so high in his first term (hoping of course that there is a first term!).

Obama needs to pick which base he needs to appeal to most ... for white males, he should pick Wesley Clark, for Hispanic voters he should pick Bill Richardson.

My own choice would be Bill Richardson; the white male vote is a declining asset. I don't think that demographic has given a majority to any Democrat since Kennedy or Johnson.

On the other hand, a ticket made up of two "minorities" might alienate some voters even more, even if the two "minorities" together make up a majority.