The Hillary Clinton Deathwatch

Don't count Hillary out yet....she is tough!

The problem here is that while Obama's background has been disected and microscopically scrutinized, relatively few people have stopped to consider Hillary's suburban Chicago upbringing. It was, and is, a particularly hard-skinned culture. Those who come out of it do not respond to criticism the way the critics want. They are more likely to do what the critics are against and ram it down their throats. And never try to pressure them, that will only cause these folks to circle the wagons and go to war.

Hillary is of a time and place that taught us, when we were young, to set our minds on a goal and crush anything that got in the way of achieving it. There is no nuance in this, no subtlety and no "niceness." No one has ever gotten into a battle with someone who has come out of that culture, be that battle political or cultural, that did not come away feeling that he had been run over by an armored division.

The best expression of it was made by the Cook County Election Commissioner, Seymour Simon, on the night of the 1980 Reagan landslide, when he said, "These are suburban votes and no one tells them what to do." Hillary is a product of that culture and no party leader is going to tell her what to do.

She is going to battle Obama until the Democrats are wrecked and then she will fight him in the ruins until the last vote at the convention is counted and maybe even after that.

The Mayor of New York won't bring in a single midwestern or southern vote. The wisest choice for VP for Obama would be Richardson. He's a western governor who does not personally alienate anyone. And he may chip away at McCain's lock on Hispanics against Obama. The downside is that by emphasizing Hispanics, it may futher alienate the White Male vote.

It comes down to the electoral vote. Which red states in 2004 does Obama have a chance of winning and if McCain puts California in play with his appeal to Hispanics, are there enough of them to matter? Bloomberg brings nothing in that regard, in fact his presence would hurt the ticket.

Richardson, by supporting Obama, would really like to be asked to be VP on the ticket. Why do you think he came back to support him? Personally, I don't know if Bloomberg wants the VP job. Time will tell. Don't think anyone can say this have been a boring contest!