The World Around You

My take this morning is that she’s enjoying being courted more than she would enjoy the job itself. It seems likely that she will turn it down. Senator Kennedy offered her a chance to take a leadership role on healthcare, and that will be tempting.

Buzz continued Tuesday about the possibility that Hillary Rodham Clinton will be Barack Obama’s secretary of state — though Clinton insiders also told Politico that the New York senator might reject the job.

There are also concerns about the idea in some precincts of Obamaland. From his supporters in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party to campaign aides of the soon-to-be president, there’s a sense of ambivalence about giving a political plum to a woman they spent 18 months hammering as the compromised standard-bearer of an era that deserves to be forgotten.

The Buzz: Hillary now a no-go? - Politico Staff - Politico.com.

Mike Allen at Politico reports this morning,

“The sense among the no-drama Obama world is this is well on its way to winning best Oscar for drama,” said one well-connected Democratic official.

There are signs, however, that the Clintons may move decisively to satisfy the vetting requests in coming days, clearing the way for a “Team of Rivals” Cabinet that would bring the president-elect’s opponent for the Democratic nomination into his historic administration.

I know some Obama supporters are upset by this courting, but I think it’s exactly what Barack promised. This is not going to be a business as usual administration, and that means he is going to upset supporters not just sometimes, but often. Senator Clinton is a strong diplomat and if she is willing to take on the task I think it is a brilliant move to add her to the team. There is also a lot to be said for having the Clintons as part of the team instead of on the outside criticizing and building their own power base.

It appears that the offer was extended to Hillary yesterday to be Secretary of State…interesting stuff…

Real Clear Politics - News - Elections 2008 - Opinion - Commentary - TIME.

I don’t play tit-for-tat, but this was too good to pass up…

[youtube]BHAOodl6ZfE[/youtube]

My belief immediately following the speech, and the consensus this morning, is that Hillary Clinton could not have done a better job last night. She did exactly what is needed for the party to move on and delivered the speech of her career, and perhaps of this entire convention.

If Joe Biden does his thing tonight (and Bill Clinton manages not to rain on the parade), the stage has been set for Barack to claim the mantle of his party tomorrow night. His challenge his great. He needs to not lose what brought him here, that message of hope, but he also needs a lot of meat to help bring along those in the audience who did not support him during the primaries. I believe he will meet that challenge tomorrow night.

I was so proud of Senator Obama last night…he delivered the speech he needed to deliver, announcing his pending nomination to the nation, taking the mantle of the Democratic Party and beginning to lay out the vision for how he is going to make real change in Washington.

To Senator McCain’s credit, the portion of his speech I saw was his best of the campaign as well.

Senator Clinton…well, let’s just say she was less than conciliatory in her speech, we’ll see how she presents herself behind closed doors.

I don’t know what the end game will be for the Democrats, but my take is Senator Obama needs to ask for Hillary’s 100% support and whatever it’s going to take to get that is what he needs to offer. I find the idea of her as the VP deeply troubling, but if that’s what it takes to get her firm commitment to his candidacy he may be forced to offer it to her.

…and in the light of day I hope Senator Clinton recognizes that. A narrow victory in Indiana and getting trounced in North Carolina does not make for a formula to stay in the race. She fought long and hard to keep her slim chances alive and slim has turned to none.

I hope her advisors are able to recognize that the money flow is stopping and that they will not gain a single superdelegate following the results yesterday. Obama will see a flood of new commitments this week…but he has already ended any doubt.

If she’s in beyond the end of this week, I would be surprised…

All of the polls I’ve seen have Hillary up over the weekend between 6 and 10 points. Like most Obama supporters I desperately hope he can win this, because by Hillary’s own statements it’s a must win for her. However, not only is it a must win, it’s a must win by at least double digits. If Senator Obama can keep the margin closer to 5 than 10, it’s a very positive sign for him and we move on with Senator Clinton having missed another huge opportunity.

Senator Obama will be the nominee, the path to ending this is much murkier…

Barack Obama is running the same kind of campaign Bill Clinton ran in 1992. To believe that because he was Governor of Arkansas he was somehow more “tested” or “proven” as a leader is simply ridiculous.

The Clintons should be ashamed of themselves to believe that the man who has run as good a campaign as anyone in recent memory couldn’t run the country just as well.

NPR: Report: Clinton Truly Believes Obama “Disaster-in-Waiting”

…but this is a bit much.

Here is what fun filmmaker Spike Lee says about the Clintons: “The Clintons, man, they would lie on a stack of Bibles. Snipers? That’s not misspeaking; that’s some pure bullshit. I voted for Clinton twice, but that’s over with. These old black politicians say, ‘Ooh, Massuh Clinton was good to us, massuh hired a lot of us, massuh was good!’ Hoo! Charlie Rangel, David Dinkins—they have to understand this is a new day. People ain’t feelin’ that stuff. It’s like a tide, and the people who get in the way are just gonna get swept out into the ocean.” Why hasn’t Al Gore thrown Tom Daschle under the bus yet? [New York Magazine]

Wonkette: Rae Over Gender: Spike Lee Throws Clintons Under the Bus