POLITICS - My political prediction for 2012 (based on absolutely no inside information): Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden swap places. Biden becomes Secretary of State -- a position he's apparently coveted for years. And Hillary Clinton, Vice President.
So the Democratic ticket for 2012 is Obama-Clinton.
Why do I say this? Because Obama needs to stir the passions and enthusiasms of a Democratic base that's been disillusioned with his cave-ins to regressive Republicans. Hillary Clinton on the ticket can do that.
Moreover, the economy won't be in superb shape in the months leading up to Election Day. Indeed, if the European debt crisis grows worse and if China's economy continues to slow, there's a better than even chance we'll be back in a recession. Clinton would help deflect attention from the bad economy and put it on foreign policy, where she and Obama have shined.
The deal would also make Clinton the obvious Democratic presidential candidate in 2016 -- offering the Democrats a shot at twelve (or more) years in the White House, something the Republicans had with Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush but which the Democrats haven't had since FDR.
Twelve years gives the party in power a chance to reshape the Supreme Court as well as put an indelible stamp on America.
According to the latest Gallup poll, the duo are this year's most admired man and woman This marks the fourth consecutive win for Obama, [link] while Clinton has been the most admired woman in each of the last 10 years. She topped the list 16 times since 1993, exceeding the record held by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who topped the list 13 times.
Obama-Clinton in 2012. It's a natural.
(Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley
and the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at RobertReich.org.) -cw
Tags: Obama, Clinton, President Obama, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, FDR, Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Bush, Republicans, Democrats
CityWatch
Vol 9 Issue 104
Pub: Dec 30, 2011