Friday, June 06, 2008

A Jewish Mother for Obama?

If he decides against Hillary Clinton as a running mate, the Democratic nominee might consider Dianne Feinstein, who played Jewish mother last night by getting them together at her Washington home for a "play nice, children" moment.

“They talked for about an hour,” California's senior Senator told reporters. “Just them. No staff. There were no press, no staff. They had one person from each campaign that was in my study separately and I guess the security people outside. They got along very well.”

As a running mate, Feinstein has a good deal to offer beyond her appeal to Jewish voters--for disappointed women, her staunch support of Clinton during the campaign; for doubters about Obama's youth, more than a decade of executive experience as Mayor of San Francisco; for ideologues, her relative centrism over 16 years in the Senate.

Like John McCain, she has a very rich spouse, whose business ties may raise some questions but not as many as those of the Clintons would.

Taking the game of fantasy politics a step further, if Obama-Feinstein turned out to be a winning ticket, her ascension could open the way for Californians to achieve a demographic twofer by electing Condi Rice to fill her seat.

This weird year, anything is possible.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

fromed Feinstein to Rice - LOLOLOLOLOLO
gimme a break - The Californians who elected Feinstein are going to elect Mz Rice - who is so closely tied to Shrub -
While the idea of Senator Feinstein being VP is interesting - the notion of her replacement being Rice makes me think you are losing it.

Mike said...

I'd say Wesley Clark and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sibelius are two to consider. Clark's strengths include age and military and foreign policy experience. Sibelius's strengths include age, gubernatorial experience and popularity in a state that would be a would be great for Obama to win.

As well, I believe Clark and Sibelius were both Clinton supporters, so either would be good for fence-mending.

Mike said...

*that would be great for Obama to win.* Damn.
Also, re: Sebilius, she has ties to the mighty swing state of Ohio (born there, dad was governor).

Anonymous said...

I hope Obama will base his decision on brains and chemistry, not electoral and demographic calculation. He needs somebody whom he can trust, qualified to be president, smart, and fun to work with. Richardson, Webb, or Dodd are probably good bets.

Sebelius is interesting, though. She has an "evenness" the HRC lacks. Cool and steady are hallmarks of the Obama brand.