When a larger-than-life sports star says "its not about the money" ... its always about the money. Now, President Obama has just indicated that he will not jettison Joe Biden as his running mate (see: The Hill Story). So, I'll take a shot and predict that in the late Friday afternoon news dump sometime in the next few weeks, watch for the White House to quietly announce that, because of unspecified health reasons, Joe Biden will not be on the ballot in November. OK, so when Biden is toast and assuming President Obama asks Hillary Clinton to be his running mate this Fall … in other words, save his bacon from the Romney/Ryan fire ... I here choose to parse the ramifications of this convoluted political situation:
- Hillary and Bill Clinton clearly have mixed feelings toward Obama. There must still be a bitter taste in their mouths over the 2008 Presidential nomination process and the loss of what had assumed to be Hillary’s birthright. Yes, Hillary has served Obama loyally as his Secretary of State, but this can also be attributed to her desire to keep her name in the news in preparation for 2016.
- Although Hillary has repeatedly said that she was through with politics and would not be draftable by Obama as his Vice President, she is a consummate political animal … and one can never trust what so pure a politician says. If she runs alongside of Obama and their ticket was elected, she would, accordingly to the normal media narrative, be given great credit for this result and be the overwhelming choice as the 2016 Democrat Presidential nominee.
- If she accepted a spot on the Obama ticket, and this ticket lost for some strange reason, she still would be the natural choice in 2016. Since she would have the 2016 Presidential nomination prerogative in either case (can’t really lose it), she might even gamble and slyly help insure such a negative outcome (as sweet revenge for 2008).
- If she were to refuse Obama’s offer and The Barry runs with some lesser luminary (including Biden) as his second … and this ticket loses, the analysis put forward in the previous bullet point would still hold … but with higher fidelity. This is because Hillary would be viewed with greater sympathy … just like what happened in 2008 when she misted up in New Hampshire.
- The only real danger for Hillary’s Presidential prospects would be if Obama ran with someone other than Biden … and they won. (This outcome must be assumed to be a long shot.) This would cause Obama’s VP pick to be the presumptive Presidential nominee in 2016. And this would put a stake in the heart of Hillary’s Presidential ambition … since waiting until 2020 or 2024 would place her well into the twilight of her political career.
Bottom line, I predict that Biden’s going away would be pretty much sunny-side-up news for Hillary … just like the eggs that would go along with Obama's bacon she might be saving.
Addendum: For more on this issue see: The Daily Caller.
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