Obama dismisses talk of Vice Presidency
Illinois Senator Barack Obama yesterday firmly rejected the idea he would be willing to sign on as Vice President for Hillary Clinton.
Obama’s response comes after hints from Clinton that she would be willing to consider sharing a ticket with him in the November election.
“I don’t know how somebody who is in second place is offering the Vice presidency to someone in first place,” Obama said.
Hillary and husband Bill Clinton have recently been quoted making reference to the possibility of a joint Clinton-Obama Democratic ticket.
The former President said in March 7th speech in Mississippi that such a combination ticket would be “almost unstoppable,” according to CNN.
Hillary Clinton last week stated that a joint ticket “may be where this is headed,” according to the Washington Post.
During a campaign rally in Mississippi on Friday, Senator Clinton said:
“I’ve had people say, ‘Well I wish I could vote for both of you. Well, that might be possible some day. But first I need your vote on Tuesday.”
Obama, however, is not so taken with the thought of playing second fiddle to Clinton.
“With all due respect, I won twice as many states as Senator Clinton,” he said yesterday.
“I won more of the popular vote than Senator Clinton. I have more delegates than Senator Clinton.”
Obama said in a speech to supporters that voters should not expect they can “get both” he and Clinton on a ticket, saying “I want everyone to be absolutely clear. I am not running for Vice President. I’m running for President.”
According to the Associated Press, Obama currently leads Clinton in delegates 1,578 to 1,468.
A Democratic nominee needs at least 2,025 delegates to clinch the nomination for the November election.
Currently, Obama is expected to take the Democratic primary in Mississippi today, according to recent polls.
The win would bring him the majority of 33 pledged delegates from that state.
Clinton is campaigning to win victory in the Pennsylvania primary on April 22nd, where she currently leads against Obama.
The Pennsylvania primary offers 158 pledged delegates at stake for the winner.
Neither Clinton or Obama is likely to be able to secure enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination outright.
The eventual winner will most probably be chosen at the Democratic National Convention and will rest heavily on the decisions of the country’s so-called ‘superdelegates.’
Possible impending re-votes in Florida and Michigan, which lost their delegates for moving their primaries up too early, could throw another wrench into the Democratic path to the White House.
Obama poked fun at Clinton for the suggestion he might eventually run as her Vice President, considering her repeated statements about his lack of experience, saying “I don’t understand – if I’m not ready [to be President], how is it you think I would be such a great Vice President?
“This kind of gamesmanship is exactly the kind of doublespeak, doubletalk, that Washington is very good at, that people who spend a lot of time in Washington have a lot of experience at,” Obama said.
“But it’s not going to solve the problems of the country.”
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