Even In Victory, Obama Is Overshadowed

I once heard a speech by Ward Connerly that recounted his memory with a former professor, I believe, where by the professor will believe that our country has overcome many racial problems when a black man is running for president on a national party ticket. Well that has happened with Obama apparently having enough delegates and superdelegates to put him over the top.

That should be the big story of the day, instead the news cycle is dominated by Hillary Clinton, her lame speech last night and the question of whether she will be VP.

To answer the question of her as VP, the answewr should be unequivocally no, although I understand teh Obama camp needs to look like they are considering the idea. The closest Hillary Clinton should come to an Obama White House is a State Dinner invitation and Obama certainly doesn't need Bill Clinton in the neighborhood either.

But instead of relishing the history of the moment, we are treated to the spotlight hogging of one Hillary Clinton, as if she, and not Obama, was the real story. I don't like Obama's politics and frankly I hope he loses in a landslide to McCain (the landslide won't happen but it would be nice). But the fact is that he is the first black man to lead a national party ticket and that, in and of itself is worthy and should be noted as more than just a simple footnote to a Hillary Clinton story.

The vanity of this couple is beyond belief. Her speech was calculated to give her the impression of victimhood and thus derserving of a spot on the ticket. If she wanted to make a case for a spot as VP, she should have conceded weeks ago and if not weeks ago, she should have dropped out formally yesterday. But she can't bring herself to do it, she can't admit that she lost to some upstart who five years ago was a state senator in Illinois. She lacks the humility to serve in the shadows so she makes a non-concession speech that still leaves lots of doubt as to the status of things.

So, Obama's history making achievement is swallowed by the vanity of a loser. Let's face it, Hillary Clinton and her campaign lost this race more than Obama won it. Yes, he ran a smart, aggressive campaign, but a year ago no one would have thought this possible. But Hillary Clinton lost this race, and she has plenty of people to blame, but the fault is ultimately hers.

McCain Veep Stakes

Senator McCain will meet this weekend with Governors Charlie Crist (FL), Bobby Jindal (LA) and former governor Mitt Romney (MA) in what is no doubt a series of job interviews for the VP slot on the Republican ticket.

First a general word. That McCain is looking almost exclusively at governors is great. He will need some executive experience to balance his absolute lack of such experience.

Romney--he comes from the Northeast and has lots and lots of executive credentials to back him up. However, his politics are not that much more conservative than McCain's. But Romney did well in the GOP primary, he had support and he could help solidify the GOP. But let's face, I can't remember the last time a Republican carried the Northeast let alone Massachussets. Geographically, Romeny doesn't help, politically he doesn't help, so I think this is not the best choice. I could see Romney as a Secretary of State or Defense.

Bobby Jindal--no doubt the GOP wunderkind would greatly help McCain. Jindal's policy credentials, especially on health care, are without equal in GOP circles. He is young, only 37, and dynamic. But here is the problem, Jindal's youth will only highlight McCain's age. Their average age on election day will be like 54, which is a fair age for a president, but not for a President/Vice combination. Plus, I don't think Jindal should get into this, for a number of reasons I pointed out here and here. Plus, McCain is likely to carry Lousiana anyway. Let Jindal clean up Lousiana and run for President after getting re-elected to governor.

Charlie Crist--Now from the obvious standpoint, getting a popular Florida governor not name Bush to be your running mate would give McCain a big edge in a key battleground state. So from that standpoint alone, Crist has to be the frontrunner. But there is more to Crist. He is solidly conservative, mainstream conservative. He would appeal to the conservative base and help solidify McCain's right flank. But Crist has loads of experience as governor and as attorney general. He has taken a hard line stance on gun rights, law enforcement and other mainstream conservative issues. Crist is also a brilliant campaigner and brings solid operational skills. The drawback is that Crist has spent almost all of his career in state politics, which detracts from the national and internationl level skills that Jindal and Romney bring.

Of the three mentioned here, I would choose Crist for a number of reasons, in part because he is clearly outside the beltway and from Florida.

Jindal Rumors Won't Die

I had talked about this before, where where some people think newly elected Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal would make a tood running mate for McCain. The rumor won't die.

Look, barring gross incometence as the governor, Jindal will be on the national GOP ticket, probably in 2012. I will be lining up to support him then. But I am not sold on Jindal for the ticket now. I do think he needs more seasoning as the point executive (his experiences in prior exective positions notwithstanding) in a state that literally cries out for a rebirth. Furthermore, I am not a big fan of McCain (and only a Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama could make me vote for McCain) and I don't want Jindal tainted with McCain.

I don't think that Jindal himself would want this role now. The differences between Jindal and McCain are so numerous, it boggles the mind. Jindal has been at the forefront of efforts on Medicare reform, a state wide health care system, a state wide university system, undistinguished but solid performance in Congress and now Governor, all before his 40th Birthday. When John McCain was first elected to the Senate, Jindal was in grade school. In short, Jindal, in his short life, has more executive experience in his little finger that John McCain has in his entire career. Why mess with that?

Jindal is a largely classic conservative, a fiscal hawk and socially conservative although not archly so. The child of legal immigrants, he has the insight into the immigration problem that McCain doesn't. Jindal is probably a walking encyclopedia on the matter of entitlement reform. Let's not ruin what will might be the First Gen X president by tainting is reputation with running on a ticket with John McCain, who still hasn't done enough to convince conservatives that he is worthy of his support rather than worthy of an anti-Democrat vote (like me).

Let Jindal fix Louisiana (if he can in four years). Until then, I remain unconvinced that Jindal is the right man for the GOP number 2 slot.