Clinton-Obama in '08? Or Not

It is time to start thinking about possible vice presidential candidates. Let's start with Hillary Clinton. If she manages to get the Democratic nomination, who will her running mate be?

There would be enormous pressure within the party for her to select Barack Obama. It would be a unifying choice, a historic choice, and she wouldn't do it in a million years. Her best bet would be to make a symbolic offer to Obama in the certain knowledge he would refuse.

John Edwards? Forget it. He would never do it again, and I don't think she would offer it to him.

But what about another historic ticket — Hillary and Bill Richardson, which would make it the first woman presidential nominee and the first Latino vice presidential nominee?

Though Richardson would be pleased as punch to get the bid, though he would add geographic balance to the ticket and though he is a governor, which voters tend to like, somehow I don't think it is in the cards.

Why? Richardson may be too close to Bill Clinton. Of all the guys Bill could have gone to in order to get Monica Lewinsky a job, why did he go to Richardson? And Richardson came through, offering her a job at the United Nations. It was all investigated and there was nothing illegal about it, but does Hillary really need her running mate going on "Meet the Press" to try and explain it once again? And does she really need a reminder of that chapter in all of their lives?

Safer choices (we think) would be Mark Warner or Evan Bayh.

COULD HE BE PLAYING BOTH SIDES AGAINST THE MIDDLE? NOT RAHM!

Why is the Obama camp certain Rahm Emanuel will be endorsing Hillary Clinton, while some in the Clinton camp seem certain Emanuel will be endorsing Barack Obama?

It is not an easy call for Emanuel. He worked in the Clinton White House and received support from Bill when Emanuel first ran for the U.S. House in 2002.

But he is also close to Obama and even closer to the Obama's big backers, the Daleys of Chicago.

So what will Rahm do?

"I'm hiding under the desk," Emanuel told the Chicago Tribune earlier this year.

In a Tribune editorial board session, Obama was asked about Emanuel's dilemma.

"Rahm knows the right thing to do," Obama said with a smile.

He does? Since when?

And are you wondering who the last Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, will be endorsing in 2008?

You are? Why?

BUT I'LL BET HE GOT HOTEL POINTS ...

Candidates stray from their stump speeches only on rare occasion and usually at great peril.

Just ask Bill Bradley, basketball legend and former U.S. senator from New Jersey, who was a genuinely bright and different candidate when he ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2000.

He showed just how different when, at the end of a very long campaign day at a small junior college in Iowa, he abandoned his stump speech in order to deal with what was really on his mind.

Only 305 words long (which still makes it significantly longer than the Gettysburg Address), it does manage to cover the topic completely:

"The other day, you know, it wasn't the other day, I'll be honest it was a couple of months ago, I was in a motel and, you know, I've been spending a lot of nights in motels, and this is one of those motels where the sheet comes off, you know, when you roll over, the bottom sheet comes off because the sheets aren't long enough to tuck in, you know, so it's the middle of the night and you're sleeping on an open mattress as opposed to the sheets and you ask yourself, 'Who slept here last night?' you know, and I was there and I had my head on the pillow and it was one of those rubberized pillows and you put your head down and your head bounces back up like this, you know, it was one of those places where you turn the heat on and it's too hot, and I think it's 100 degrees in the room and, you know, if you turn it off, 10 minutes later you're freezing. Life along the road. And I thought that night, you know: I've been on the road in America for 30 years. Thirty years. That's why I know so much about this."

Speaking of life on the road, in order to stay sane, we reporters invent little games to keep ourselves alert and make each other look bad.

Here is the current one: Name the eight U.S. presidents with one-syllable last names.

An experienced political reporter should be able to come up with all the names in eight minutes.

So you should be able to do it in five.

To find out more about Roger Simon, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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