VP or not VP

Posted by Marc Hodak on June 4, 2008 under Politics | Comments are off for this article

Barack Obama had flatly rejected the idea of being Clinton’s VP during the primaries. I don’t recall that Clinton has ever rejected the idea of being Obama’s VP nominee, though most people had assumed during their battle that she wouldn’t condescend to be anyone’s VP.

In game theory, Obama’s position would be considered to border on brinkmanship. “If you want me, you’d better vote me to the top of the ticket.” Clinton’s position would be considered as hedging. “I want to be the presidential nominee, but I won’t rule out the second spot, just in case.” In a sense, Clinton’s position doesn’t seem as strong; her hedge opened up the possibility of voters who are on the fence going for Obama; that way, they might get both.

On the other hand, Clinton has known for a while now that she was likely to lose the presidential nomination. She has been arguably playing for “rebound position” since Super Tuesday, where if the shot doesn’t go into the basket, i.e., Obama has a serious slip up, or worse, she’s ready with her sharp elbows to catch the rebound. Angling for the VP slot might simply be a continuation of the rebound positioning, which could continue right through an Obama presidency.

That might work better for Bill, too. I never believed that Bill was rooting for his wife in this campaign, no matter what he said or did. His multi-million dollar earning power would be lost for the most productive period of his life. Screw that. Bill would probably find being second-husband far less constraining than first-husband.