Clinton backers talk up Hillary as VP

A growing number of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) most prominent supporters are calling on Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to put her on the Democratic ticket.

While Clinton trounced Obama in this week’s Kentucky primary and is still making the argument that she should top the Democratic ticket, top allies have talked Clinton up as a vice presidential candidate.

{mosads} Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), one of Clinton’s high-profile allies in the Congress, has called for Clinton to run on the ticket. She joins Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), and Clinton campaign national co-chairwoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio).

Despite swelling enthusiasm among Clinton backers for a so-called “dream ticket” and a report that Clinton campaign officials are discussing the possibility with Obama advisers, Obama’s supporters are wary.

They would like to see Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), or former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) chosen instead.

But the loud calls from Clinton supporters have begun to drown out the reservations Obama’s allies have about her as a running mate.

“I am one that believes that if it works out that Sen. Obama is the nominee, the strongest ticket would be Sen. Clinton as vice president. No question in my mind,” Feinstein told The New York Post.

Neutral Democratic leaders are also promoting an Obama-Clinton ticket.

Sen. Tom Carper (Del.), vice chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), told Clinton’s hometown paper: “I’ll encourage [Obama] to ask, and if he does, for her to say yes.”
DLC chairman and former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) has said the party should think “very seriously” about pairing Obama and Clinton.

Clinton’s closest adviser, her husband, is also said to be getting involved in the campaign for the vice presidency. Time magazine reported that former President Bill Clinton has told friends that Hillary deserves to be offered the No. 2 spot on the ticket.

Schumer and Rendell have endorsed the “dream ticket.”

Schumer told reporters earlier this month: “Hillary and Barack have both run very strong and great races, and I think they’d be a strong ticket together.”

Rendell told CNN: “If Sen. Obama becomes our nominee and he wants someone to carry the Clinton banner, there’s no question in my mind he should ask Hillary Clinton.”

Two former Clinton aides are heading a media-relations offensive to promote a joint ticket.

Adam Parkhomenko, who worked as an assistant to former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, and Sam Arora, who worked for Clinton’s Senate and presidential campaigns, run a group called VoteBoth, which has adopted a logo that melds the Clinton and Obama campaign designs.

But some Obama supporters believe that black voters may resist embracing Clinton after she waged what many called a divisive primary campaign.

“I’m not sure the Obama supporters will fall in line and support her,” Rep. Lacy Clay (Mo.), a pro-Obama Democrat, told The Hill after the West Virginia primary. “It’s evident that she and her husband started down this racial path shortly after the South Carolina primary and they continue to hearken back to racial divides in this country.”

Clinton has since toned down her attacks on Obama, a move that some Obama supporters said was important for her to be considered as a running mate.

“She’s been much more elevated and stateswoman-like, and that’s positive,” said Brent Budowsky, an Obama supporter who writes for The Hill’s Pundits Blog. “There has been a definite change of tone toward being more stateswoman-like and unifying. There’s no question about it.”