Carter, Rendell: No Hillary for Veep

Jimmy Carter, a personal hero of mine and one of about three people in the world whom I truly admire, is being an idiot. I'm sorry to have to be the one to say that, but at least he's sticking to his principles, not wanting Obama to compromise just to get votes. From the UK Guardian:

In terms that might discomfort the Obama camp, he said: "If you take that 50% who just don't want to vote for Clinton and add it to whatever element there might be who don't think Obama is white enough or old enough or experienced enough or because he's got a middle name that sounds Arab, you could have the worst of both worlds."

(Cartoonish double-then-triple take) What the...?

This is surprising, but only on one level. That Jimmy Carter would suggest changing Obama's VP pick based even partially on coddling xenophobes is disappointing, but I guess he's trying his hand at cold, political reality. The fact that he sucks at it doesn't surprise me.

Another guy I like, Ed Rendell, is pushing the same bad dope from the other side, advising Hillary Clinton: (via The Page)

"There's no bargaining. You don't bargain with the Presidential nominee. Even if you're Hillary Clinton and you have 18 million votes, you don't bargain."

Is he advising Hillary Clinton or Michael Corleone?

Both of these guys are too smart to be this wrong, but this is an unprecedented situation, and the old rules, the ones they're used to, don't apply.

The historic nature of both candidacies creates a positive that eclipses the negatives Carter speaks about. Hillary's negatives won't break voters off from Obama, and vice versa.

Jimmy Carter has a lot of great qualities, but reading the political landscape is not one of them. If he was good at that, he probably never would have run for president.

Ed Rendell, on the other hand, thinks Hillary is too big for Obama's Veep slot. I hope like hell to one day have a booster one-tenth as enthusiastic as Ed, but I'll make sure I ignore this kind of advice. You know, like Andrew Ridgely being too big for "Wham!"

These two are not alone. I seem to be the only person in the world who's certain that the two will end up on the same ticket, which will make me look like a real genius in a couple of days.