After last night's primaries and the 11 contests preceding them, the results are clear:America wants Barack Obama to win this nomination, but it doesn't want Hillary Clinton to lose.
With the Republican nomination sealed up, it is important that we start thinking about our ticket. Last night we began to understand that if either clinton or obama is the nominee, we could face mass defections.
Judging by the current delegate counts and predictions for future contests, it is nearly certain that Obama will finish up the primaries with a lead in pledged delegates. I doubt very much that the super delegates will go against the will of the people (if they do i predict McCain wins all states except NY, NJ, CA, WA, MA, DC and RI.) That being said, I predict that barring death or serious injury Obama will be on top of the ticket.
However, as I noted before, I believe that though more Americans want obama to win, many dont want Clinton to lose. That's why I believe Obama must take Hillary Clinton as his VP nominee. That way you plug defections and keep more people psyched for the Democrats.
Yes, this is not the ideal situation. Webb, Zinni, or Brown would all probably help Obama more, but a Clinton pick might be necessary.
As for the policy divides they'd have to mend, it seems that the most glaring issue is Health Care. Their differences on Education, Foreign Policy, and the Economy (though Obama's economic plan is really much better than Clinton's) will comparably be easy to heal and would probably end up trending more towards Obama's ideas except on Education because of the AFT.
The process of filling Health Care divide, while it seems scary, could actually help out our candidates in terms of policy. Clinton would probably have to give up her mandate, a system that has failed in Massachusetts, and Obama will have to include more people by making his plan Opt-Out rather than Opt-In. that would be a much more agreeable outcome.
So, I guess go OBAMA/CLINTON 08!