Hillary Was Asked, Said No
I always knew she had good judgment about some things. From The Examiner:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was pressed by her husband and a top Obama aide to consider replacing Vice President Joe Biden just a couple of weeks ago, claims the author of the New York Times bestseller "The Amateur."
[Ed] Klein, whose book is No. 2 on the NYT bestseller list, quoted unnamed sources who revealed that top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett put the vice presidency on the table during a lunch with the secretary of state. "The lunch was ostensibly about policy issues, but the subject of the vice presidency came up," he said. "Hillary told Valerie Jarrett that she was not interested in running as Obama's vice president."
Klein said she cited two reasons: If elected, she didn't want to be tied to Obama's left-leaning politics in her own 2016 bid. Second, if Obama loses, she would be tarred as a loser.
This story has it all: a desperate Obama campaign, Clinton marriage intrigue, and a very leaky source. Wonder who that is. Couldn't be Bill, right?
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Sep '10
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
Its a pleasure watching Bill stick the shiv in Barry and twist the payback handle.
Dec '10
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
Now Biden really is the best Obama can do for a second. Irony tastes a lot like warm apple pie in my mind right now...it's that good.
May '11
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
not a fan of anonymous sources
Jan '11
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
Not only does it show that the Obama Gang is in trouble ... it also shows that they know it.
According to the story, the author was made a couple weeks ago. That was before Paul Ryan. That was before Biden's recent gaffe streak. One wonders if Biden felt the change in the wind a couple weeks ago, and then decided that he had to do something to keep his name in the hat - - and under pressure (as would be expected), he botched his chance to redeem himself.
Which makes the Hillary lunch all the more interesting. Maybe they came to Hillary and said, look, we know you turned us down last week, but even we didn't realize Joe was as goofy as this. Please, ya gotta help us!
Oh how chilling Hillary's smile must have been at that moment!
Aug '11
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
Yeah that Klein book is all anonymous sources, and that bums me out. Even so, it doesn't surprise me that Hillary would say no to the invitation. What's in it for her?
May '10
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
I think that a Hilary veep pick would have given Obama the same chance to redefine his campaign that Ryan gave Mitt. From here on out, Obama is going to have to keep up the same message as before: Mitt is out of touch because he makes boatloads of money which he might be hiding in dubious places but we won't know until he releases his tax returns.
The shift in focus that Hilary would have brought, however, would mean that Obama would have had to run on issues. Redefinition would mean accepting Romney's challenge to talk issues. And he doesn't want to do this.
Jan '11
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
The source, if the story is true as told, can only be Jarrett. I find it hard to believe that a presidential adviser (i.e., power behind throne) is willing to make that kind of offer in front of a lot of witnesses. I also find it hard to believe that Hillary would explain herself that way, in front of a lot of witnesses. And if it was a small circle of witnesses, Jarrett would know immediately who it was anyway - so unless some top dog gets fired in the next couple of weeks, it could only be Jarrett.
John LeCarre used to write intrigues like this ...
Aug '10
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
Gee, what's second prize ?
Jun '10
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
Hope...not so much.
Mar '11
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
So, the big question is, what does this bode for the D-ticket in 2016?
Oct '11
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
Girl gottta have standards.
Mar '11
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
Rob Long:
This story has it all: a desperate Obama campaign, Clinton marriage intrigue, and a very leaky source. Wonder who that is. Couldn't be Bill, right?
Right - no blue dresses were involved involved in this leak.
May '10
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
Rose Law billing records, Whitewater, Chinese funny money, Vince Foster, she's escaped enough times already. I can't help but wonder if the splatter from Fast and Furious is going to be so bad that she doesn't want to be any closer to the White House.
Jun '12
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
No offense, Mr. Long, but would these be the same "unnamed sources" that called Harry Reid regarding Romney's taxes?
May '10
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
And then he gets to rev up the crowd at the convention...he's not called Slick Willie for nothing.
Jun '10
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
It's very different. There's no implied criminality in the story of a job offer declined. Even if the story is true, we can't know the exact reason for Obama's offer, or the exact reason it was declined.
Edited on August 17, 2012 at 10:20pmApr '12
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
LOVE it, Samuel! :-)
Are any of you watching the TV show, "Political Animals"? Although it is an American production, this is Canada's idea of coverage of American politics. :-) It is based on the Clintons, no matter how much this is denied, and the latest rumour around Hilary Clinton being offered the VP position, and Bill leaking the news, would be a great story line. :-))
It is quite an entertaining show, and is not sympathetic in its treatment of the principal characters. The media person is sleazy and all out for herself and her career. Now that I think about it, the political climate must be changing in Canada, to even show this at all. On second thoughts, it is on PBS.
Jun '12
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
Mel Foil
It's very different. There's no implied criminality in the story of a job offer declined. Even if the story is true, we can't know the exact reason for Obama's offer, or the exact reason it was declined. · 29 minutes ago
Edited 28 minutes ago
I still don't trust "unnamed sources." For all we know, Mr. Klein could have pulled this story out of the same bodily orifice that Mr. Reid pulled the Romney taxes story out of, and for the same reason: to get ahead and/or to get revenge on a political opponent.
Jun '10
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
This seems just too "perfect" to me. I'm highly suspicious.
First, I've always thought that the possibility (of switching out Biden on the ticket) is somewhere between remote and zero. Would he be made to take a sustained hit from the media for it? Perhaps not. But it's something simply not done, it's highly risky when it's clear the election is at least going to be close, and it's admitting a failure. It would also give Biden, not known for his careful choice of words, the ability to badmouth the campaign. Second, even if they were inclined, how likely is it that Secretary Clinton would accept? You don't want someone to get the opportunity to say no.
Second, the details of the "source" are highly dubious. It's far too detailed, given that this was (presumably) a one-on-one meeting. If the story is true, the leaker has just unambiguously identified themselves -- they were present at the meeting, or were told in detail what happened afterward by either Jarrett or Clinton. Why would they be so stupid as to leak it, and then inevitably lose their jobs?
Color me skeptical.
Oct '10
Re: Hillary Was Asked, Said No
ConservativeWanderer
I still don't trust "unnamed sources." For all we know, Mr. Klein could have pulled this story out of the same bodily orifice that Mr. Reid pulled the Romney taxes story out of, and for the same reason: to get ahead and/or to get revenge on a political opponent. · 1 hour ago
No, I'm skeptical too. Hillary's two reasons for not taking it could be true, but I can't imagine her saying it to Jarret. She calls the president's policies far-left while speaking to one of his closest advisers? I dunno. And it just sounds too pat, like something a writer might come up with.
But I'm enjoying the thought of it anyway. It might just be a composite of the situation.