WASHINGTON, June 4, 2008
Caroline Kennedy To Help Obama Pick VP
Candidate Names Three Person Search Team - Kennedy, Jim Johnson And Eric Holder
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Play CBS Video Video Will Obama Tap Clinton? Now that he's secured the Democratic nomination, it's time for Sen. Barack Obama to start considering his running mate. Is Hillary Clinton at the top of his short list? Harry Smith reports.
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Video Obama Nails Down Nomination Nomination in hand, Sen. Barack Obama's is turning his attention to the main event. Speculation abounds over whether a vanquished Hillary Clinton will be his running mate. Dean Reynolds reports.
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Video A Roundtable On Race Barack Obama is the first African-American to secure the nomination of a major party. But is America ready for a black president? Harry Smith leads a roundtable discussion on the subject.
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Obama campaign officials said Carolina Kennedy, above, former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and longtime Washington insider Jim Johnson have already begun compiling information on potential running mates. (AP)
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Photo Essay Obama Claims Nomination Barack Obama secures the Democratic presidential nomination in historic race against Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"I'm very confident of how we're going to be able to bring the party together," Obama said after a brief conversation with Hillary Rodham Clinton, his vanquished rival.
Campaign officials said Kennedy, who is the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, as well as former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder and longtime Washington insider Jim Johnson have already begun compiling information on potential running mates. They disclosed no names.
Obama clinched the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, taking a major step toward his goal of becoming the first black president. While Clinton has yet to concede defeat, she and associates have been maneuvering for the past 24 hours to gain her a place on the ticket.
Bob Johnson, the founder of the Black Entertainment Network, was among them, and said he was doing so with her blessing.
Johnson said he had written the Congressional Black Caucus asking its members to urge Obama to place Clinton on the ticket.
Clinton "didn't direct me to do it but she certainly knows what I'm doing," said Johnson, who angered Obama's aides earlier in the race when he obliquely referred to Obama's confessed drug use as a young man.
Furthermore, CBS News chief political consultant Marc Ambinder reported last night that Clinton's campaign manager Maggie Williams a few weeks ago quietly endorsed an effort by two former Clinton staffers to launch a draft unity ticket called "VoteBoth".
But former president Jimmy Carter has come out against those efforts. Mr. Carter told the UK's Guardian newspaper that an Obama/Clinton ticket "would be the worst mistake that could be made." (Read more about groups pushing to put Clinton on the ticket.)
Democrats began closing ranks quickly.
Two senators swung behind Obama after remaining neutral throughout his long nominating battle with Clinton, as did Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., a member of the House leadership with close ties to Obama and Clinton.
"We have a nominee of our party," said Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa. Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado also announced his endorsement.
Former Vice President Walter Mondale, who had been a Clinton supporter, announced he was backing Obama.
It hardly mattered in terms of delegate math - after months of struggle, Obama had more than enough to prevail at the party convention in Denver in August.
But Mondale, Harkin, Salazar and others poised to endorse Obama later in the day were also sending a message to Clinton that her race is over, whether she will admit it or not.
©MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- Obama is very savvy in asking for assistance to pick a VP. This will help to build a consensus among the diverse groups that make up the Democratic Party. Since Obama is doing so poorly among blue-collar, white, Southern men, I would strongly consider John Edwards as his first choice for VP.
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- YAWN. ANOTHER DIVORCEE NEEDING TO FIND HER PLACE IN SOCIETY. ANOTHER KENNEDY INVOLVED IN MISDEEDS.
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- I want to know why a Kennedy is involved in the VP process? Talk about an elitist mentality. Keep up the good choices Obama, you don''''t really want the White House. Posted by BarbJC1
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He''s just kissing some a$$. - Reply to this comment
- Caroline Kennedy is smart, classy, elegant, grace, poise, and beauty....ALL THE THINGS Hillary Clinton wishes she possesses whenever Hillary looks herself in the mirror. mariann2269
******************************************************What an incredibly juvenile statement to make. - Reply to this comment
- No mystery here folks....it''s time for Obama''s payback to the Kennedys. The Kennedys didn''t stab Hillary in the back for nothing you know....now they get to pick the VP.
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- and Bob Johnson, who started Black Entertainment is a racist!!!! I don''''t see a White Entertainment Network.
This is who Obama puts his trust in?
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Posted by fstop100 at 05:44 AM : Jun 05, 2008
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Now lets see here folks! This poor fascist finds a problem with a guy who obtained success with the Black Entertainment Network. HE finds that to be racist and thus Obama is a racist for allowing him to help him pick a VP. Now for those out there who think FASCISM is dead... Well Welcome to McCarthyism 2008 style!! For YOU sparky we have a BIG very BIG SIEG HEIL!! - Reply to this comment
- Well, I guess I''''ll stay home in November. If the rookie senator needs a Kennedy to pick his VP for him, it just shows how politically naive he is and reenforces the fact that he lacks all aspects of the experience needed to be the president.
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Posted by gameoverdems at 05:29 AM : Jun 05, 2008
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How is that exactly?? Your post makes absolutely NO sense and it seems you attempt to make a hate target out of Ms. Kennedy? Maybe YOU''d prefer some Lobbiest help pick the VP? Oh hey maybe he should have an INSIDER like Shooter Cheney pick? It takes a sad sad human to act like you! Sieg Heil Bush - Reply to this comment
- jockh figures a guy with no experience can save America... ::giggles::
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Posted by lambofgoth at 06:56 AM : Jun 05, 2008
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IF you''d have attended a few of those History Classes you missed you''d KNOW that the people who CREATED this nation had no experience!! Obama has plenty of experience but the MOST experience he has is dealing with REAL American''s instead of Lobbiest! Now let the fuhrer and Shooter know you care... sing it out!! SIEG HEIL BUSH! - Reply to this comment
- jockh figures a guy with no experience can save America...
Posted by lambofgoth at 06:56 AM : Jun 05, 2008
... from the mess a guy "with experience" put it in ? Maybe ... - Reply to this comment
- jockh figures a guy with no experience can save America... ::giggles::
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- The majority of Clinton supporters will support Obama in November%u2026
Some will not, but I think most realize the stakes, and put that above sour grapes and petty jealousy.
However, most of the folks who keep repeating on here that they won''t support Obama will probably stick to their word. They can congratulate themselves if Obama loses, and smirk for a bit. They can also pat themselves on the back when the US troop casualty count comes in each month, and feel proud they help perpetuate that.
They can smile to themselves as the dollar continues to weaken and friends and family can''t find blue collar jobs in America, and know they had a hand in that too. As more conservative judges are appointed to the supreme court, they can laugh to themselves and say "yeah, but we sure taught the DNC a lesson, didn''t we?"
So be proud Obama haters, you are the true Americans aren''t you?%u2026 - Reply to this comment
- and Bob Johnson, who started Black Entertainment is a racist!!!! I don''t see a White Entertainment Network.
This is who Obama puts his trust in? - Reply to this comment
It was Johnson, who did his own version of "9/11" with the Tonkin gulf "incident", who escalated the war into Vietnam.
Some of us were paying attention back then.
Posted by brianbwb at 03:06 AM : Jun 05, 2008
And, talking about "911''s", it was also under JFK that "Operation Northwoods" didn''t take place.- Reply to this comment
- My Hot VP Outside List for Obama:
1)Dianne Feinstein- Hillary Jewish California Foreign Affairs
2)Joe Biden - Senoir Foreign Affairs TV Cool temprement
3)Jay Rockefeller - Foreign Affairs Senior
4) Chuck Hagel- BiPartisan Foreign Affairs.
But I think he''ll pick Hillary even with all the negatives - Reply to this comment
- I nominate Caroline Kennedy for VP.
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- It''s just a handful of delegates and super delegates, not the people who let Hillary down...
Hillary won all key states, and received the most popular votes yet the people''s voice were bashed. The biased sexist DN supdels decided to ignore the people and pulled the carpet and the floor from under her. They stole delegates from Hillary to give to their golden boy Barack Hussein, and allocated all undecided votes to him - even though he took his name off the ballot, and blocked a re-vote too. The DN purposefully supported racist Barack and his 92% black racist followers. Cleraly an African style robbery. What happened to democracy? The DN better remember all this at the General Election in November. - Reply to this comment
- "JFK invaded Cuba, nearly started a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, and dramatically increased US military presence in Vietnam (which essentially started the Vietnam War)." Posted by S_Temper
You are totally incorrect about Vietnam, it was his intention to end the "secret war" in Cambodia, thereby cutting off the cash cow for some, that got him killed.
It was Johnson, who did his own version of "9/11" with the Tonkin gulf "incident", who escalated the war into Vietnam.
Some of us were paying attention back then. - Reply to this comment
- I hope Obama has the good sense to pick Hillary whose popularity has been demonstrated by exceptional wins in swing states. She is also very appealing to Hispanics. If he wants to win over Clinton supporters, Hillary would be his best choice...though she is twice the political figure he is!
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- Are there other ways too if a VP selection has been proven in the past to actually enhance the ticket to maximize that gain by not just stopping with the VP, but also naming other cabinet members like the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, AG etc . . . then you could get like 4 for the price of 1 (?)
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- lastdance122, ever thought about coming back to reality?
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