Clinton Knew She Was Unlikely VP Pick

Washington Post: Obama's Decision To Pass Her Over Remains Central To Ongoing Story Of Strained Relationship

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Anne E. Kornblut.

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In a private meeting with Sen. Barack Obama after she conceded the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton made a request: that he consider her for his vice presidential running mate, but not put her through the charade of being vetted if he was not serious.

Obama told Clinton then it was unlikely he would choose her, people familiar with the conversation said. Obama did not want to lead her on and, after campaigning against her for more than a year, already had a sense that their pairing would not be the right fit.

As Clinton prepares for her address to the Democratic convention Tuesday night, Obama's decision to pass her over remains central to the ongoing story of their strained relationship. It has also contributed to what associates say has been a difficult emotional period for the former first lady in the two months since ending her bid. One adviser described her as outright "depressed" in July, while another said she was "moving forward" and a third said she has simply been trying to get through November before making decisions about where next to take her life.

Clinton has done second-guessing from time to time, they said, reexamining how certain elements of her primary campaign turned out so badly. She has returned to senatorial tasks such as attending the New York State Fair and digging into Congressional Budget Office reports. Twice this summer, she disappeared on vacation in New York -- once to the Hamptons and earlier this month to the Hudson Valley. Both trips went largely unreported, the media crush that followed her for more than a year having been allowed to fade away.

"It's back to business, just not as usual," Clinton told her staff members when she got back to work, using a phrase that has become something of a mantra for the vastly reduced team.

The question of how seriously Obama considered tapping Clinton for the ticket has become a source of unhappiness for both sides of late. Clinton was never asked for the official vetting paperwork when other potential running mates were. Obama never invited her to have a real conversation about potentially joining forces, although the two spent time together at several events.

Those revelations, coming as the two camps converged on Denver and Obama chose Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. to join him on the ticket, angered many Clinton supporters who felt she had at least earned the right to greater consideration after winning 18 million primary votes.

The arguments against Obama choosing Clinton were evident from the start: Her campaign, rife with internal struggles, bore no resemblance to his tightly run operation; the two had little personal chemistry; and hard feelings lingered after what had been a bruising primary.

Obama advisers said they did not want to raise expectations for Clinton knowing they would probably be dashed, especially after she asked not to be put through an artificial process.

They also said they had far more information about her than they did the other contenders after doing so much research during the campaign. "We spent an enormous amount of money and time and a full-time unit of people looking under every stone. It wasn't like we did not know anything about her," said one senior Obama adviser involved in the process. "And we thought her position on this was pretty reasonable."

At the same time, aides said, Obama did, in fact, consider whether he should revisit the idea of an Obama-Clinton tickt as he went through the selection process.

But in effect, he did not really consider Clinton for the No. 2 spot. Even toward the end of his decision-making process, as he was weighing alternatives and leaning toward Biden, Obama raised the idea of Clinton once more with the close circle of associates helping him make the decision -- but ultimately concluded that it was not the correct course. The campaign has declined repeatedly to delve into specifics about exactly what it was that Obama did not feel comfortable with.

People who spoke to both candidates offered slightly conflicting accounts of how their early closed-door conversations went -- and some acknowledged that the talks, held in private, may have been interpreted differently by two people who did not see eye-to-eye. Some Clinton allies said she was not as much actively seeking the No. 2 slot as conveying that she was open to it. And people on both sides said it was not clear how forcefully Obama let her know in private that she was not a front-runner, although in public, his reluctance was clear.

On Monday, Obama sought to minimize the issue. "I've tried not to have long discussions about short lists, long lists, but I've said publicly before and I will repeat again that, you know, Senator Clinton would have been on anybody's shortlist. And so I took her very seriously," Obama said in response to a question on the airport tarmac here, during his first question-and-answer session in weeks.

Asked whether Clinton had been specifically on his shortlist, Obama replied: "I think you can draw that conclusion."

But if Obama thought about reconsidering Clinton, he did not share that with her, and some of her associates said she never had a chance to make the case for how she could help him win. Obama expressed "no interest," had "no meetings, no conversations, no requests for information, no real consideration whatsoever," said a Clinton loyalist who talked with her throughout the process.

And so Clinton, aware that she was essentially out of the running, did not dwell on pursuing the vice presidency. She turned to helping Obama campaign where she could, making public appearances on his behalf and raising money for him -- before arriving in Denver, where she turned to the mammoth task of persuading her most intransigent supporters to back her former rival.

Obama advisers privately said what the presumptive nominee said aloud: that they were satisfied with her efforts and grateful that she was helping push back against Sen. John McCain, who has been trying to drive a wedge between the warring camps. McCain is running an advertisement, titled "Passed Over," criticizing Obama for not picking Clinton. On Monday, she countered with: "I'm Hillary Clinton, and I do not approve that message."

Clinton aides said she is genuine in her desire to see Obama elected, and not simply because she is a committed partisan. She has looked for opportunities to help Obama "both because she wants a Democrat in the White House and because she does not want to be blamed if we don't have one," one confidante said. "She wants to go above and beyond to ensure that if it doesn't happen, nobody points the finger at her."

Clinton is also managing her return to the public eye carefully: She has not done any in-depth interviews and has barely discussed the primaries. That is a stark contrast to her husband, who had angry words about the primaries as recently as July, when he conducted interviews during an annual trip to Africa. Some in Sen. Clinton's circle said they learned that the former president had begun speaking about politics publicly again only by reading about it in the newspaper, suggesting that the two Clinton operations have drifted apart, back to the state they werein before her presidential bid.

Obama predicted on Monday that Sen. Clinton will deliver "a rousing speech" on Tuesday night. The address has been crafted by a trio of her speechwriters and is expected to "echo the themes of the campaign," primarily the economic hardships of average Americans. It is not only a coda to her presidential campaign but also a preview of what may lie ahead, as Clinton, in the words of one ally, "finds her niche."

Clinton has begun thinking about how to harness the support she earned this year and is weighing how to be not only a leader of women but also a populist voice, advisers said. She is likely to write another book. She will stay in the Senate, where she won reelection in 2006, unless another, better opportunity should arise. But there are no signs thus far that she is thinking about the jobs others have mentioned Obama might consider her for, such as a Supreme Court justice.

"She's emerged from this campaign as an even more powerful force, and she's going to map out a strategy where she can make a difference in people's lives," said Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), a staunch Clinton advocate during the primaries. McGovern, who traveled with Clinton in the final days of the race, said he had spoken with Clinton on a couple of occasions since then and marveled at her resilience.

"In the aftermath of the election, she has been incredible. I'm not sure I'd have the ability to just pick up all the pieces and go on," he said. "But I think in a way this campaign has been an education for her. She's come to appreciate that for a lot of people in this country life is tough and they're looking for a champion, looking for a voice. And people are counting on her and expecting big things from her even if she's not going to be the nominee."

[oldwhiteguy1]

Having watched the convention, there is no ''rift''...
Look out McCain, here come the Democrats !

[forevertru-2009]

Somebody want to tell Obama that were in America, its called freedom of speech!

%u201CHaving failed in its attempts to get our legal, factual and fully-supported ad off the air, Barack Obama%u2019s campaign now wants to put our donors in prison for exercising their right to free speech," said Ed Martin, American Issues Project%u2019s president. %u201CThese over-the-top bullying tactics are reminiscent of the kind of censorship one would see in a Stalinist dictatorship, with the only difference being that those guys generally had to wait until they were in power to throw people who disagreed with them into jail.%u201D

In addition to two letters sent to the Department of Justice asking the government to investigate American Issues Project, its officers, board of directors, and donors, the Obama campaign has been contacting stations running American Issues Project%u2019s ad in an unsuccessful attempt to compel them to pull the spot.



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Posted by jackDems at 09:07 PM :
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Doesn''t surprise me at all. Obama doesn''t understand American Values. And why would he? The males who influenced him during his formative years where of very different cultures. Democracy was only introduced to him long after these other values were instilled in him.

[jackdems]

Somebody want to tell Obama that were in America, its called freedom of speech!

%u201CHaving failed in its attempts to get our legal, factual and fully-supported ad off the air, Barack Obama%u2019s campaign now wants to put our donors in prison for exercising their right to free speech," said Ed Martin, American Issues Project%u2019s president. %u201CThese over-the-top bullying tactics are reminiscent of the kind of censorship one would see in a Stalinist dictatorship, with the only difference being that those guys generally had to wait until they were in power to throw people who disagreed with them into jail.%u201D

In addition to two letters sent to the Department of Justice asking the government to investigate American Issues Project, its officers, board of directors, and donors, the Obama campaign has been contacting stations running American Issues Project%u2019s ad in an unsuccessful attempt to compel them to pull the spot.

[mrmazerati]

Just watched Melissa Etheridge play at the convention. Unbelievably moving, even the CNN people were tearing up. These people do not look divided at all to me.

[forevertru-2009]

misha128, I do like your analogy though.

[forevertru-2009]

The small tent people like to keep a little of their own identity. Besides the world will never live under one big tent because it isn''t man''s nature and people who try to push the big tent idea have no plan of living under there anyway.

[misha128-2009]

Posted by ForeverTru at 07:48 PM

And I thought each was best known by the size of the their tent. The Democrats had the BIG INCLUSIVE TENT. The Republicans prefer a small exclusive tent.

[forevertru-2009]

Obama 8===}~~~~0: The Democratic Party

[forevertru-2009]

The Republican Party = The mean white machine party

[rosieod4prez]

"It appears to me that Hillary is just going through the motions....- Posted by formrusmcsgt


I had heard earlier today, on a right wing talk show, that Hillary''s speech was really very effective for bringing the party together, and that Bill was speaking for her in reality.


I only heard part of her speech - but it did sound like she tried to be sincere.

Bill on the other hand has been a real jerk towards Obama, even when Obama tries to hold his hand out.

I know it''s pretty hard for Bill to swallow his pride. He, I''m sure, thought Hillary was a shoe-in back about 6 years ago. They just hadn''t counted on Obama coming along.

So were you ever a Hillary Dem before, and if so, why''d you move over to Obama ? I''m told their platforms are similiar.

[forevertru-2009]

A couple of weeks ago, HOWARD DEAN CALLED THE REPUBLICAN PARTY THE WHITE PARTY.

I guess that means the Democratic Party is the black party.

[formrusmcsgt]

Read both postings and then let me hear back from you.
Posted by chyenna at 07:16 PM : Aug 27, 2008

I went back 5 pages and see no postings.

[formrusmcsgt]

Formrusmcsgt: I admit most of the posters are more knowledgible than I. Two cva''''s tend to wipe out alot of what you use to know. I have made 2 preious post asking honest questions regarding some real disturbing things about Obama that I have read on this site. I''''m a voter, and I just want to base my vote on which man is the better man. Read both postings and then let me hear back from you. I just wanted a knowlegible person to help seperate fact from fiction. I wasn''''t asking for insults, I was just asking for help so I could better undersand.

Posted by chyenna at 07:16 PM : Aug 27, 2008

How did I insult you?

[formrusmcsgt]

But, yo''''re talkin like Hillary isn''''t supportin your man, Barack.

I got the impression she was - just Bill was being a butt.

What gives ?

Posted by RosieOD4Prez at 07:12 PM : Aug 27, 2008

It appears to me that Hillary is just going through the motions....

[ramos937]

I just witnessed the Obama nomination by acclamation which was proposed by Hilliary. Bill now has no choice. If he wants to be relevant in politics, he has to embrace Obama. His speech tonight will tell the tale.

[forevertru-2009]

OBAMA 8===)~~~~O: The Democratic Party

[mrmazerati]

All of this talk means absolutely nothing in terms of who will win the election. The only thing that means anything is the electoral map. My advice to anyone who thinks Obama doesn''t have a chance is to go look at the election map of 2006. This election will of course be much closer, but that election was only two years ago and the major issues are unchanged. Look at California- 55 votes. Look at New York- 31 votes. Texas will likely go to McCain, that''s 34 votes. But look at all the states in play- Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania. Even Colorado, a traditional R. stronghold, is up for grabs. Florida could be a tossup, even with the R. governor. The point is, this thing is going to be tight, no matter who says what. It may be even tighter than 2000. Look at the maps!

[chyenna-2009]

Formrusmcsgt: I admit most of the posters are more knowledgible than I. Two cva''s tend to wipe out alot of what you use to know. I have made 2 preious post asking honest questions regarding some real disturbing things about Obama that I have read on this site. I''m a voter, and I just want to base my vote on which man is the better man. Read both postings and then let me hear back from you. I just wanted a knowlegible person to help seperate fact from fiction. I wasn''t asking for insults, I was just asking for help so I could better undersand.

[shazam116]

You are killing me donnie

[shazam116]

I have to agree with you - poor Bill has been in the dog house since Monica.

But, yo''''re talkin like Hillary isn''''t supportin your man, Barack.

I got the impression she was - just Bill was being a butt.

What gives ?


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Posted by RosieOD4Prez at 07:12 PM : Aug 27, 2008
+ report abuse


What is this dumb broad....rosie give to donnie josie...