Obama-Clinton ‘dream ticket’? Dream on, voters

Robert L. Traynham
Tribune Correspondent
Sen. Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, are now making the argument that Sen. Barack Obama would make a great vice president under a Clinton administration. Are the latest comments from the Clintons both self-serving and arrogant?
You betcha. 
It’s also smart politics when you factor in that the Clintons have nothing to lose as they try to make the argument to the American people – and to all the all-important superdelgates – that “they”, excuse me, “she” is ready to become president on Day One.
It is becoming increasingly clear that many in the Democratic Party would like the party to form a so-called “dream ticket.” That would be either a Clinton-Obama ticket, which is something the Clintons appear to want, or perhaps an Obama- Clinton ticket, which is an the argument the Obama campaign alludes to, given the fact that they have more pledged delegates, have won more states, and have generated more buzz about the Democratic Party in generations.
So what¹s the possibility of this so called “dream ticket?”
I’d give it a 50/50 chance and here’s why: Neither Clinton nor Obama really wants to be on the ticket together. 
Let’s face it. They both have large egos and they both feel entitled to the nomination in their own right. 
I am told there is so much anger and animosity not only between the two candidates, but between their staffs as well that the last thing they want to do is to run together in the fall. 
The Democratic race for the nomination has been a long, hard slog and both camps are worn out from the constant infighting and endless televised debates (there were 20 debates total during the primary season) that started last year.
Obama’s response to the Clintons’ latest proposal is one of mock disbelief. His recent missive on the campaign trail is: Six weeks ago and up until recently, the Clintons made the argument that Obama was not ready for president. 
He was not tested; he didn’t have enough experience and he was out of his league. 
Obama went on to say that the fundamental flaw in that argument is that the one criterion that nominees use to pick their running mates is: if I were to die tomorrow, is this person qualified to be president?
Six weeks ago the Clinton¹s said Obama was not, but now they are saying yes – but only as the number two.
This whole argument screams of the Clintons’ desperate hope to snatch the nomination away from Obama. 
They very well may succeed if they win Pennsylvania, which holds its primary on April 22, but there is no doubt they will tear the party apart, according to a superdelegate I spoke with last week.
The Clintons seem to think that this is the only way to bring the party together and create “a powerful force,” as former President Clinton said, to beat Senator McCain and the Republicans in the fall. 
I would agree that if the two camps, along with the superdelegates. could come up with some type of scenario where both candidates where on the ticket and so long as both Obama and Clinton were comfortable with it, it would be a formidable force which would force Senator McCain, in my opinion, to nominate a women or an African American to the Republican ticket. Most likely Condi Rice, Colin Powell or former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts would get the nod.
All of this is to say a Democratic dream ticket would not only force the Republicans to look at their bench of candidates to combat the diversity of the Democratic ticket, but it would also do wonders for the advancement of race and gender relations in this country. 
The only sad irony in all of this talk about a dream ticket is that its being forced on both candidates out of political necessity as opposed to being orchestrated based on mutual respect and admiration.
Traynham is the Washington correspondent for the Comcast Network and the host of CN8’s “Roll Call TV” show.