While I think Hillary to be McCain's 'dream' Democratic VP, for the last month or two I've been advocating that attacks on her character are divisive and counterproductive. Man, I'm praying Fineman's anonymous source is lying about this...
Newsweek has a "source who is personally close to the Clintons" saying that though Hillary personally doesn't want the nomination, she is asking that he not pick another woman for VP. "Hillary's supporters, and Hillary herself, can't stand the idea that he would pick another woman," according to the source.
Howard Fineman of Newsweek interprets the demand: "And why does Hillary care so much that Obama not pick another woman? Perhaps because Hillary has spent the last several months turning herself into the tribune of millions of working women. She deserves a lot of credit and respect for doing so. She is still their candidate, and she doesn't want to cede that to another Democrat of the same gender."
I've heard this talk on Hillary-centric blogs, but to hear it from her campaign itself is flabbergasting. Granted it's an anonymous source, but this completely undermines her credibility as "working for the millions of women that don't have a voice, etc." There are several great VP contenders that are women: Janet Napolitano, Claire McCaskill, and Kathleen Sebelius.
While I will not debate the individual strengths and weaknesses of these three here (there are extensive discussions of that across the internets), for the Hillary camp to dismiss three of the eight or so top contenders based on their gender is some the rankest hypocrisy I've seen.
Let's set aside the obvious slight of refusing the possibility of any other woman on the Democratic ticket yet denying she'd even take the position herself. Hillary's commitment to winning is put in serious question when she restricts Obama's campaign from choosing the best candidate for the job, which could very possibly be a woman.
Yes I understand the idea that it would be seen by some as a pander to women, but it's possible even Senator McCain could choose a woman VP. As the Obama campaign strategizes to defeat McCain and whatever the GOP cooks up in the fall, we need the best team, NOT the best team that doesn't include a woman.
I cannot imagine the uproar if Obama's camp itself ruled out consideration of all women. I also cannot imagine Obama demanding Clinton not pick an African-American for VP other than himself (after he himself worked to energize new voters, etc., etc.) if the roles were reversed.