
USNAWR:
The possibility that a potential Democratic presidential primary matchup between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama could lead to a Clinton-Obama ticket is raising concerns in GOP circles that it might be unbeatable.
(snip)
“Listen, we’ve got some lackluster people running on our side, and that is exactly the kind of ticket that would get their side in a fever pitch,” said a Bush ally. Democrats aren’t so sure it would work, though, because of Clinton’s high negatives and Obama’s short résumé and race. But the Bush adviser said those factors are actually winners: Obama could help soften Clinton’s image and bring more African-American voters to the ticket as well as independents seeking real and symbolic change.
After the debacles of Blackwell, Steele and Swann, the Stupid Party is STILL embracing the “we’re gonna get the black vote” delusion. This is why they really fear Rodham-Obama, because they think it will undercut their imaginary share of the black vote.
I don’t think that a Rodham-Obama ticket would win ceteris paribus. However, the real world is not a vacuum, the Democrats’ opponents are the Stupid Party. I fear that if the Ds pick Rodham-Obama, the Stupid Party will reciprocate by demanding that Condi Rice be somewhere on the ticket. Her presence will chase away that certain percentage of white people who would not allow a non-white in the White House, meaning Rodham-Obama would beat a Rice-Somebody or a Somebody-Rice R-ticket.
A microcosm of this effect was Obama’s own 2004 election for his Senate seat in Illinois. The Illinois Stupid Party, even more Stupid than usual, trucked in that six short of a six pack from Maryland, and his antics meant an Obama blowout instead of an Obama narrow victory, which is what would have happened if the Illinois GOP picked a responsible replacement.