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ker 4/13/2008 8:43:55 PM

She gets better offers I am sure.

Negotiating this kind of thing from Obama end would be risky. She gets increased statuses if the offer is made and made public. Obama only wins if she takes it. The risk that she would play games and only think about it if Obama asked personally and then say no publicly is high. So he can't ask until he knows the answer and he can't know the answer first.

Also if she wants to burn some GOP bridges she can start identifying as a "Independent-Republican." She gains more, loses less and has more predictability.

Then the question of what happens to Obamas left flank in he moves that far to the middle. He would need Whitman to deliver hard attacks against the GOP generally to convince the left that the deal was worth it and Whitman hasn't played that way in the past.

You need a VP who loves and/or fears you allot. If she is attracted to what she gets by defecting on the GOP then she might really like what she get by defecting on Obama.

Obamas pick will be more conventional me thinks.

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CJH 4/19/2008 4:54:22 PM

I know. This is surely a bit of a reach.

However, I have heard comments attributed to her that indicate she misses the old, pre-Reagan days when Republicans were less partisan and more cooperative with Democrats. An example of this Republican old-school would have been Bob Michel of Illinois.

One vein of the American public imagination that Obama is tapping into for his success is, I believe, the desire on the part of many people that politicians in Washington would stop being partisan and start working in harmony to address the interests of the American people. Of course, the political parties differ as to a definition of those interests but apparently many of the public believe those interests to be self evident.

Anyway, I believe Whitman might be one who could readily and perhaps effectively identify with and address that desire as a politician.

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ker 4/20/2008 8:44:43 PM

Yes. It would be nice if our Sec. State could have been Sec. Education, too. I can see Whitman doing something like the gang of 14 but outside of the Congress.

Lots of people think the none-partisan compromises are easy to see. Truth is that the middle is even less unified on the answers than the poles are. The middle is every body who won't be herded by either side. Lots of very different people who don't much want to be herded.

One factor that increased the cowoporation between party in the Regan period was that every body knew that the dems controlled the house and the none appointed positions in the executive branch. Regan passed on a lot of fights with the dems because he knew he couldn't win. The dems let Regan get away with some things because they knew they could shut him down latter if they needed too. Aint that way no more. Stakes for the party are much higher.

Other people have talked about how the over lap between the party in terms of conservative and liberal were much much bigger then. The most liberal and the most conservative Americans were both Democrats back then. Now we are sorted out and the party are fighting each other more than they are fighting with in the same party. The leaders in the congress who used to talk to each other now do attack interviews on tv against each other. Down time with other members is gone do to the pressure of year round campaigns and the option of jet travail back for the long week ends. Every weekend is now a long week end- have you seen their calender?

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