And, in the case of the Bill named Richardson, fumbles with God Himself.
Sorry, B.R. Neither God nor the Constitution has anything to say about Iowa being the first Presidential preference voting in the country in a given Presidential election year. At that, the Constitution doesn’t mention anything about political parties. If God really cared that much about the Hawkeye Cauci, Pat Robertson would have won them in 1988.
As for Clinton, he claimed that he really looked into the matter and studied the Constitution hard, and has come to the conclusion that he cannot be his wife’s running mate. Slick’s reasoning was some long, convoluted rant about the 22nd Amendment, and therein he still made the implication that he could. I know Bill C. always had problems with the precise definition of simple two-letter words, and never let that ole antiquated Constitution in the way of his political will, so it’s refreshing that he cares about it for a change. In that spirit, let me present to you something from that selfsame document that’ll unambiguously end his hopes.
From the 12th Amendment:
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves…
(snip)
…no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
Those are the very first and very last sentences of the Amendment.
Unless Bill has moved out of Harlem, he and his wife live in the same state. Therefore, barring anything else, he couldn’t be her Vice-President — remember, in 2000, Dick Cheney had to change his residence from Dallas back to Wyoming (at least on paper) before George Bush could announce him as his running mate. While it does not explicitly prohibit a Presidential candidate choosing a running mate from his or her own state, it means that a Clinton-Clinton ticket could not legally get any electoral votes from New York, or a Bush-Cheney ticket in 2000, (assuming Cheney would not have “moved out” of Dallas), could not have received any Texas electoral votes, something which were vital for the latter, (and yes, in late December 2000, Democrats tried to make the case that Cheney really didn’t move out of Texas, to have the Federal courts nullify Texas’s electors), and will probably be vital for the former next year.
Even if Bill tried to turn that Cheney trick and “move” to another state, he would still be absolutely ineligible because of that part from the last sentence. He’s not eligible to be President anymore, because he has already used up his two terms. As such, he cannot become V-P.
