Bill Clinton: A Clinton-Obama ticket would be 'unstoppable'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/03/08/art.billclinton.ap.jpg caption="Bill Clinton and other supporters of his wife have suggested a joint ticket with Obama."] (CNN) - Even as Hillary Clinton's campaign attacked her rival, Barack Obama, for failing to "deliver on his promises," her husband, former President Bill Clinton said Saturday that a joint ticket pairing the two would be "almost unstoppable."
The former president referred to his wife's own comments that indicated a willingness to consider the prospect. "She said yesterday and she said the day after her big wins in Texas and Ohio and Rhode Island that she was very open to that and I think she answered explicitly 'Yes' yesterday," said Clinton during a Mississippi campaign appearance.
"I know that she has always been open to it, because she believes that if you can unite the energy and the new people that he's brought in and the people in these vast swaths of small town and rural America that she's carried overwhelmingly, if you had those two things together she thinks it'd be hard to beat."
He added that, in his view, Obama would win the "urban areas and the upscale voters" while Clinton claims "the traditional rural areas that we lost when President Reagan was president. If you put those two things together, you'd have an almost unstoppable force."
Hillary Clinton told a CBS interviewer earlier this week, shortly after she ended a string of 11 losses with wins in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island, that a joint ticket "may be where this is headed. But of course we have to decide who is on the top of ticket. I think the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me."
The New York senator has made the suggestion in other interviews, as have her campaign surrogates. On Friday, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell told the National Journal that it was important for the winner of the Democratic nomination to make the offer to the runner-up this year.
The Obama team has largely avoided making similar statements.
UPDATE: In an interview with CNN affiliate KTVQ in Billings, Montana, Obama called the notion "premature," saying he has won twice as many states as Clinton and a greater share of the popular vote, and he believes he can maintain a delegate lead.
"You won't see me as a vice presidential candidate, you know, I'm running for president," said Obama.
–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand
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Why should Obama that the deal? Look what happen to Al Gore. You gotta be kidding me. Al Gore waited for 8 years and became too stife for America. The best job for Halliary is VP for AARP.
Clinton is just trying to have it both ways... she's trying to convince those that are unsure that "it's OK" to go with her because she'll pick Obama. Like you can trust a clinton.
This is a typical evil Clinton move.
They think if they propose both on the ticket (of course with Hillary at the top) that this will appeal to people, and pull votes from Obama, as he has not agreed to a "dual" ticket.
Of course, if Hillary pulls it off, she will probably do something crappy to Obama so he won't want to be on the ticket. She then has that out.
We don't need more years of evil bickering in the White House. I am a Republican, but will vote for Obama for president. I will never vote for Hillary.
You're all missing the point. Obama does not want to be part of the "politics as usual" that Clinton represents. He would be much better off staying in the Senate. If McCain wins, as is likely if Clinton is the candidate, then Obama would have a good chance in 2012. If Clinton wins, he would not be held responsible for the inevitable sleaze and still have some options later on.
Obama – top of any ticket! Neither Hilllary or McCain can repair our world credibility at this time. Not enogh people in our own congress want to work with Hillary, she's already ticked off several world leaders, those most contentious relationships don't respect women in the first place so now we wanna send undiplomatic Hiallry out to greet them build trust and negotiate... I don't think so. As for McCain, the entire world is sooo weary of affluent white American males telling them "how to be"– his brand will be most ineffective on the world scene....Folks...it aint just about us Americans anymore.
hey obama no 08 HiLLARY CLINTON yes 08 CLINTON best for AMERICA.
There is no way this is going to happen. If you think about it, since Obama will be the one with the most pledged deligates, and will be at the end, no matter what they do with FL and MI, apparently Senator Clinton is applying for the job of VP.
If Hillary Clinton truly believes that Barack Obama is not ready to be Commander in Chief, then why would she want him to be the VP. Isn't it important to pick a running mate that you think would be able to be Commander in Chief if anything should happen to the President. She is saying that he is not qualified. How does she know that nothing would happen on Day 2 that would put him in that position? So, is she saying that he is qualified, or not?
I would enthusiastically support a joint ticket where the senior member in terms of age and experience is the presidential candidate and where the junior member serves as vice president in order to get some much needed experience.
President Clinton?? You mean former president...
A Clinton-Obama ticket sounds ridiculous...especially after all the mood swings and personal attacks that came from the Clinton campaign. Ms. Clinton did not win Texas because she did not win in the delgate count, she is still about 140 pledged delegates behind Obama, and just cannot catch up. Obama has also gained ground in the SuperDelegates.
Wyoming was a big loss for Ms. Clinton because of that states history in supporting woman.
CNN has been a little better in reporting this weekend, but they still tend to over state facts at times.
Claudia in NB Canada
Hillary and Bill Clinton knows that a great number of people would love to see her and Barack on the same ticket to form what is called the Dream Team. She’s now trying to use this angle to swindle votes out of the American people by publicly saying she’ll make Barack her VP, basically saying if you vote for me you’re voting for Barack because I’ll make him my VP!!!!
Hillary has attacked Obama, saying he does nothing but make speeches with no solutions. She said he can’t be trusted and that he says one thing in public and something else in private. She talks about her experience and even praise McCain but took a shot a Obama’s experience basically saying he’s not ready to run the country but now he should be her VP, one step away from being president if something happened to her. If she truly believed what she was saying about Barack surely she would look elsewhere for a VP, or maybe she’ll just say anything to win.