Kennedy to Hillary: 'No Veep For You!'

Since Tim Russert and I declared the Democratic nomination settled, there has been a whirl of discussion about Hillary joining Obama's ticket as Vice President. According to Politico's Ben Smith, however, prominent Obama supporter and Democratic Party royal Ted Kennedy says, "Not so fast...":

Obama should choose a running mate who "is in tune with his appeal for the nobler aspirations of the American people," Kennedy said. "If we had real leadership - as we do with Barack Obama - in the No. 2 spot as well, it'd be enormously helpful."

Wow. What a D move, and I don't mean "Democratic." I can't wait to see the comments on this one. Now, I know that Ted is a beloved figure among Democrats, and who am I to argue with an elder statesman? I'm going to have to re-think my whole position on this "Dream Ticket."

(...3, 2, 1) OK, I'm done. You're wrong, Ted, wrong! In bold fonts!


I'm not going to restate my entire case for the dream ticket, which I've made several times now. Rather, I would just like to say that Senator Kennedy is not helping matters no matter who ends up as VP. Does he really think it's a good idea to piss off Hillary's supporters?

To those Hillacrats, I would point out the petulant, passive-aggressive tone of the statement, and ask that you empathize with him a little. This has been a hard-fought campaign, and there are bound to be some hurt feelings.

There have been signals from the Clinton camp that Hillary would be amenable to a VP nod, and it is my observation that, despite hard feelings, Senator Obama is far too smart a politician not to make such an obviously smart move. This is truly a test for Obama, can he win gracefully and shrug off the rancor of this campaign?

For a truly post-partisan candidate, this should be no problem. Let's see what happens.