THE ROBERT W. WHITAKER ARCHIVE

KERRY'S TWO FATAL PROBLEMS | 2004-06-19

I explained to you before how Bill Clinton sunk Howard Dean

LINK: March 6, 2004 -- Did Clinton Destroy Dean?

You will read that NOWHERE else.

Now let me explain to you the real reason Kerry was so desperate to get John McCain to be his vice presidential nominee.

Kerry knows that it will be a miracle if he is elected in November. First of all, trying to convince people that anyone with the title "Massachusetts Democrat" is not a bug-eyed leftist is like trying to explain that a person who is an active member of the Nazi Party and the Ku Klux Klan will appoint a Jewish Secretary of State.

Everybody knows that. But that is not Kerry's biggest problem. If Bush stumbles so badly that Kerry leads in October, he faces more dangerous difficulties.

Kerry has two other factors that will kill him if he is leading in the polls in October, and both of those factors have the same last name. To give you a hint what that last name is, I'll tell you that their first names are Bill and Hillary.

If Kerry is leading in October Bill and Hillary will be up there arm in arm with him, smiling and speaking his praises. In the background, Bill will destroy him.

Bill and Hillary wouldn't mind so much if Kerry himself won in 2004. Hillary can wait until 2012, and the extra four years would give her a more solid reputation for political experience on her own. What the Clintons are worried about is having a vice president elected with Kerry in 2004 who will get the Democratic nomination in 2012..

The vice president elected in 2004 will be heir-apparent for the Democratic nomination in 2012 whether Kerry wins or loses in 2008. The last person the Clintons want Hillary to battle against for the Democratic nomination in 2012 is John Edwards. Edwards is a young Bill Clinton -- Southerner, moderate, optimism and all.

John McCain would have been the perfect vice presidential running mate to save Kerry from the two fatal problems named Clinton. The Democrats would not nominate him for president in 2012 and he would be too old anyway.

If Kerry didn't get McCain as his vice presidential running mate, John Edwards would be the obvious choice. He has the geographical appeal Kerry needs, he has the light-hearted humor and optimism and personal appeal Kerry lacks. And every one of those advantages is exactly what will make the Clintons destroy him and Kerry if they run together.

Now that Kerry can't get McCain, he may still not choose Edwards because he knows the Clintons will fight to the death to prevent their election. If he does choose someone besides Edwards, the press will wonder loudly about why he didn't.

Now you know.

You won't see this anywhere but on whitakeronline.ORG because damned few people know it but Bob Whitaker.

Professional political analysts in the media get their jobs because they say the right thing, not because they know anything about real politics.