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Then there's Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who failed to excite voters this year but earned Obama's admiration and respect. Popular Sen. Bob Graham, an early opponent of the Iraq War, has also been a governor and could help shore up Obama in Florida, where he's lagging. Sam Nunn is nearly 70, out of the Senate for 12 years and politically rusty. But the Georgia Democrat might make that state competitive, with the help of 600,000 currently unregistered black voters. He signaled his availability recently by abandoning his support of the military's outdated "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays. Nunn's signature issue, stopping the spread of nuclear weapons, was also Obama's priority (along with Richard Lugar) in the Senate. Picking Nunn would highlight that issue's centrality and signal a turn to the center.

Hillary doesn't pass Geography or, obviously, Chemistry, and we know that in Obama's eyes, she also flunked delegate math. Her unseemly efforts to jam her way onto the ticket backfired. Her impressive 18 million voters won't desert Obama en masse, though it's still unclear how many will either vote for McCain or stay home. If the Clintons somehow subjected themselves to vetting and she got picked, Obama would then have to worry about his own supporters being disillusioned, and wonder when Hillary and Bill will act out again.

That could be a bigger problem if she's not selected. Consider LBJ's advice that it's better to have rivals inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in. And speaking of rivals, remember that Obama recently told an audience that Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals," a history of how Abraham Lincoln brought his enemies into his cabinet, might apply to his approach to Hillary. Never say never in politics, though an awful lot of people in Obama's orbit have been saying it lately.

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Member Comments

Posted By: lunamoon @ 06/20/2008 9:20:04 PM

Dear Jonathan Alter,
Again tonight you said on MSNBC's Countdown that "...one thing that can stop Obama from getting to the White House is a terrorist attack."

Why do you, as an analyst, insist on surmising that a terrorist attack would hurt Obama's campaign and help McCain's?

Wouldn't a terrorist attack unfortunately and vividly demonstrate that the Bush/McCain war on terror did NOT work, is NOT working, and will never work?!

I am mystified, and frankly disturbed, at your continued wrong-headed reasoning on this particular hypothetical.

If, God-forbid, there would be a terrorist attack before the fall general elections, I and all rational Americans would blame the Bush/McCain Iraq policy!

Joanne Gordon
Princeton, NJ
Posted By: cadbury @ 06/20/2008 4:18:38 PM

Whoops! Make that VoteBoth.com (not .org)
Posted By: cadbury @ 06/20/2008 4:02:58 PM

Rationale for Obama/Cinton in 2008--from Ed Kilgore on VoteBoth.org:

While there are plenty of qualified Democrats -- and even Republicans -- available to Obama, none is without handicaps, risks or shortcomings. Edwards and Strickland have taken themselves out of the running. Many feminists consider Jim Webb unacceptable, and many gays and lesbians feel the same way about Sam Nunn. Mark Warner's running for the Senate. Daschle's been a lobbyist. Biden's been a Washington fixture for 36 years, and supported the war resolution. Like Sebelius, Daschle, Nunn, Evan Bayh and Brian Schweitzer are from states no Democrat is likely to carry. Bayh or Dodd would immediately lose Democrats a Senate seat. Sherrod Brown's not a very unifying figure. And Al Gore excepted, none of those mentioned have been endorsed by 17 million-some-odd primary voters.

I could go on, but you get the idea: There ain't no easy running mate. Those who are so quick to dismiss the unity ticket have an obligation to come up not just with a better idea, but a better idea that can command broad support in the party. It's obviously Barack Obama's choice, and his choice alone, but he should remember that this is one year when a united Democratic Party will have an overwhelming advantage in the general election. That's a change we can believe in.