MauryTHINKS

Eighteen months ago, with Hillary leading Obama by a wide margin and probably already having commissioned the initial design etching of her inaugural pantsuit, I wrote a column titled: “Hillary will be sunk by a vast left-wing conspiracy.”

In it I said “Barack Obama is the anointed big media Democratic presidential nominee. From the way journalists gush at his every stride and put a happy face on everything he does, it is clear he will be the man in 2008.”

Not to brag, rest assured that, if I had picked Hillary, I would not be mentioning this. While not a pundit, I just point my finger at the lunacy that is politics and try to laugh. In humor there is truth. As a result, with the way I look at politics and make fun of both sides, there comes a certain understanding of candidates, the media and how people will react.

So here is another prediction: Barack will not pick the Hill-da-Beast as V.P. Like a junk yard dog that has him cornered now, Barack is patting her on the head, saying “good doggie” and looking for a way out of the junk yard. In the end, Hillary is too Hillary for him, and he will not want her undermining everything he does with unelected co-Vice-President Slick Willie for eight years.

Hillary’s campaign revealed several truths. One, that there is a limited number of single, over 65 year-old, ex-hippie women with six or more ceramic cats out there who could have put Hillary over the top. Her losing and returning to the Senate is New York’s loss and our country’s gain.

Two, Hillary still has to deal with the baggage (Samsonite) of her husband, Bubba. With the recent Vanity Fair article about Bill’s sexcapades, I am not sure it helped her down the stretch. Personally, I don’t mind Bill’s chasing around. If he is busy doing that, then he cannot raise taxes or enact regulations.

And three, Bill Clinton will do anything to keep Hillary out there and to keep from hearing those dreaded words: “Honey I have free time now; let’s spend more time together.” So much so that now he is pushing her for the number two position with Obama as his V.P. Bill feels that for the past thirty-odd years Hillary has been his second choice every night, which should well prepare her to be Obama’s. According to Vanity Fair, Bill has his running mate in Ron Burkle, to keep that going he needs Hillary to be Obama’s.

In retrospect, Hillary did show she had presidential potential by running up a $23 mil campaign debt. If only she knew an ex-President who made $110 million in the last few years on book and speaking deals who could help her pay it off.

And she did prove she is an actress when she finally gave her concession speech and acted like she was really throwing her support to Obama. Her advisors had her in “be nice, do not begrudge” mode (as it plays well with focus groups) and she hit all of her marks. So Hillary did it so well that she, like former V.P. Al Gore, might get the liberal consolation prize, an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She has shown us that she cannot win. In time, we will know if she knows how to lose gracefully.

I seldom agree with Jimmy Carter, but he was right when he was interviewed recently overseas. After telling the world exactly how many nuclear missiles Israel has, and stopping just short of showing a power-point presentation as to where they are hidden, he was interviewed by the London Guardian. In that interview Carter said it would be a nightmare if Barack chose Hillary as his running mate. That statement is coming from a Democrat ex-President who holds out hope that Israel and Hamas can get along; one can only imagine his view of Hillary’s ability to play nice in the sand box.

If I were Barack, I would choose a sensible Southern Democrat while there are still a few around. I propose Sam Nunn. At first I offered Nunn to Libertarian candidate Bob Barr as a running mate, thinking their campaign sticker, Barr-Nunn, would be way cool. If I were Sam Nunn, though, I would not give up my Augusta National membership (only Democrats can be members there and not be forced to resign) or my seat on GE’s board to be a part of this historic race, a race which I hope proves you do not have to be a white elite liberal like John Kerry, Michael Dukakis or Al Gore to blow a sure chance at the White House. We now live in a country where you can be a black elite liberal and achieve the same outcome.