Joining the Team

Fred Barnes turns thumbs down on the much-debated Dem ticket:

"The last person Barack Obama wants as his vice presidential running mate is Hillary Clinton. But could she, with key assistance from her husband, former President Bill Clinton, force her way onto an Obama ticket? The answer: don't bet on it.

"Obama, once he locks up the Democratic presidential nomination, has numerous reasons for picking someone other than Clinton. The most important is that an Obama White House, with Clinton joined by Bill down the hall from the Oval Office, would be dysfunctional, a center of political intrigue, leaks, and rivalries. And there are legitimate doubts as to whether Clinton, with half the country regarding her unfavorably, would be his strongest partner in the fall campaign against Republican John McCain. A dream ticket? Not necessarily.

"There is, however, a plausible strategy for getting her on the ticket, one suggested (though not advocated) by Democratic consultant and Fox News commentator Bob Beckel. Here it is: Bill Clinton would convince dozens of Obama-supporting superdelegates at the Democratic convention to vote for Hillary for veep, and joined with her delegates, they'd be a majority. Obama would have to accede . . .

"True, Clinton passes the first test for a vice presidential choice: she's a plausible president. But the second test is what one adds to the ticket. Does she guarantee an Obama victory in a critical state that he otherwise would lose? The answer is no."

I'm sure the Obama team will be consulting Fred.

Roger Simon reports on a different downside:

"It is possible to muscle your way into a vice presidential nod: You have something the nominee wants, and he has to give it to you.

"The question is: Does Hillary Clinton have that kind of muscle?

"Her victories in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia and her strength with women and white working-class voters have fueled the argument that Barack Obama must put her on the ticket if he wins the nomination and wants those states and those votes in the fall." But Simon quotes a senior Obama adviser (Linda Douglass, maybe?) as saying: 'You don't want your vice president taking away anything from the ticket, and she does.' The adviser cited 'the number of voters who consider Clinton "dishonest" and the "baggage" Clinton brings with her.' "

Other than that, she's a home run.

Why has the Hillary Surge fallen short? It's all in the timing, says National Review's Byron York: