Unless the economy turns around in a big way I think Barack Obama is going to have a very tough time being re-elected in 2012.
Even with all of the capitulating the President has done to try to win favor with White Americans in the middle of the country he's still not too popular with them. And all that capitulating has angered the most liberal groups in the Democratic party. And on top of that Obama has turned off at least a few percentage points of African American voters with his fear of racial issues or mishandling of them.
So how will Obama right his political ship in 2012?
Well there are more than a few people who are calling on him to or predicting that he will drop Vice-President what's-his-name and replace him with Hillary "I was shot at by snipers" Clinton as his running mate.
And those people do have a point that Clinton more than likely will bring with her lots of votes that Obama may have trouble getting without her. White women come to mind. And remember that Hillary won Texas and Ohio in the Democratic Primary. Both Texas and Ohio are going to be a battlefield in the general election in 2012 so having some help there wouldn't hurt Obama.
But would Hillary Clinton as a VP running mate hurt Obama as well? We all know that the Republicans love to hate Hilary. So they would have a field day. But, if their attention is on Hillary that might give Obama a break from all of the attacks. Plus since we all know that Obama will not defend himself on anything remotely racial it might help to have an attack dog like Hillary in the fold.
On the other hand more than a few African American voters were turned off by the Clintons during the last primary season. There was a lot of racial baiting coming from the Clintons. And I don't know if enough time has passed for those wounds to have healed.
I don't think anyone believes that Vice-President Biden has a chance in heck of winning the Presidency in 2016. So he'll be a liability to the Party if he remains on the ticket. Clinton would actually have a chance at winning the Presidency in 2016 so that is another plus in her column.
Oh and one more thing; Bill Clinton. He's kind of a wild card in this. He is a great fund-raiser and campaigner. But he can get out-of-pocket pretty quick. So he might be a problem in a long campaign season, as the 2012 campaign is likely to be.
And there may be another wild card in the 2012 Presidential election, that's New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. His candidacy might really hurt Obama. I know that I would consider voting for Bloomberg. I don't think he'd be afraid to address issues important to African Americans.
But Obama with Clinton might help him overcome a Bloomberg threat.
So, Obama/ Clinton in 2012? What do you think?
