Why Hillary Won't Get VP Nod

The favorite political parlor game these days is trying to figure out who Barack Obama will pick as his vice-presidential running mate. With the same conviction I had a year ago when I predicted Obama would win the nomination, I’m here to tell you Hillary will not be on the ticket. Let’s start with the obvious reasons, both political and personal.
Politically, why would Barack Obama want to saddle his candidacy with the inevitable drama and baggage that comes with the Clintons? He’s a much bigger story and draw than Hillary or Bill. They’re yesterday’s newspaper and would only detract from the Obama story line. Secondly, while putting a former rival on the ticket isn’t unusual, putting someone on the ticket that characterized you as too inexperienced and not qualified to be president is a different matter. Can’t you just see the McCain ads? “Hillary Clinton doesn’t think he’s up to the job, so why should you?” She’d have to explain her personal attacks on Obama every step of the way.
Then there’s the Michelle factor. If you think Hillary Clinton is a tough old bird, I don’t think you’ve been paying attention to Michelle Obama. Not only is she brilliant and accomplished in her own right, it’s clear she didn’t enjoy Hillary questioning his patriotism (“He’s not a Muslim, as far as I know”) or playing the white people love me card in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Michelle Obama said early on they were only going to do this once and I believe her. She’s not likely to green light a woman who trashed her husband and brings high negatives to her husband’s one shot at the brass ring.
For those out there who think Obama has to pick Clinton to placate the army of angry women who think Hillary got jobbed, get over it. Obama beat Hillary fair and square, overcoming huge odds. He raised more money, won more states, delegates and votes. If Clinton supporters want to blame anyone it should be the candidate herself. She ran a lousy campaign, squandering a huge lead. Her unintentionally hilarious tales from the tarmac in Bosnia made her a laughing stock. She also had more reincarnations than Shirley McClaine.
Who can forget Hillary playing pinochle at Lake Winola as a girl or doing beer and a bump in an Ohio gin mill? She took the wind out of her own sails. As for the bitter older women threatening to vote for McCain, who are they kidding? Do they really want to vote for a guy who will overturn Roe v. Wade? They’ll be back in the fold by November.
But if there was any doubt Obama will not be picking Clinton, the announcement this week that former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle has been hired to be chief of staff for Obama’s eventual VP candidate says it all. Given Clinton unceremoniously fired Doyle in February and they haven’t spoken since, I’m guessing she didn’t sign up to work with Hillary again.
The hiring of Doyle is reminiscent of Lyndon Johnson’s handling of Bobby Kennedy in 1964. Like Hillary Clinton’s air of entitlement, Bobby Kennedy felt entitled to the vice-presidency in the wake of his brother’s assassination. LBJ didn’t trust Bobby and knew Bobby had his own agenda. But like Obama today, LBJ didn’t want to alienate Kennedy’s constituency so he announced he had decided not to consider any cabinet officials for VP thus taking Bobby out of the equation. (Bobby was Attorney General). Obama’s hiring of Doyle takes Hillary out of the mix without directly kicking her to the curb.