Well, here is a remarkably stupid idea, making the rounds

[struggle4progress]

Sunday, January 21, 2007
That's the Ticket!
Bipartisan presidency could bring us together and make a real difference for the country
By Lanny J. Davis
THE WASHINGTON POST
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192765339&path=!nationworld&s=1037645509161

As the presidential election year nears, one candidate, a shoo-in for his party's nomination, has an obvious choice for running mate. Yet he also senses the uniqueness of the moment. So he makes a risky decision: He asks a leader of the opposition to run for vice president alongside him, forming the first bipartisan presidential ticket in U.S. history.

This is no fantasy. It's the decision Abraham Lincoln made when, running for re-election in 1864, he asked his Republican vice president, Hannibal Hamlin, to quit the ticket in favor of the highly partisan Democrat Andrew Johnson.

Lincoln's experiment in bipartisanship was tragically cut short when he was assassinated less than a month after his 1865 inauguration. But if ever there was a time to give it a second try, it's now ...

If I'm reading this correctly: the last time we tried this in a polarized political environment, the President promptly met an untimely end -- not the best selling point, I'm thinking ... And if memory serves, the replacement President in that case didn't enjoy a smashingly bipartisan term afterwards, either ... Heck, come to think of it, although the original Constitution guaranteed that the President and VP would be from different parties, it was promptly amended -- cuz almost everybody thought that aspect really sucked ...

[Duer 157099]

1. Didn't Gore already try this? n/t

[struggle4progress]

3. Not intentionally. eom

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

4. Ain't that the truth...

:rofl: :rofl:

[Clark2008]

22. LOL!!

(And I love Al Gore, but that was funny. :) )

[aquart]

2. We have no need of criminals on our ticket.

[krispos42]

5. Wouldn't work

The Veep only has whatever power the President give him. His only Constitutional powers are replacing the President in case of death or disability, breaking ties in the Senate, and he can team up with the President's cabinet to declare him unfit for the office.

Cheney has all this power because, besides the fact that he himself is politically powerful in a connected, non-official way, the President grants him the power.

So it would be with this 'bipartisan' ticket idea.

Indidently, I find it interesting that once the Repubs lose, all of a sudden they want to heal the rift that THEY created without giving the Democrats time to fix everything that they've done!

[ebayfool]

15. Clinton's Lanny J. Davis is the author of this nifty piece.

Why would he suggest this idea? Didn't he notice how well the opposition played 'nice' when he was hanging w/Bill? That didn't work out so well! Why would he presume that they would honorably join in a 'unity government' - has the man been out of the country these last 6 years? Or on another planet?

:banghead:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201956_pf.html

snip/

And whether or not either party takes the dramatic step of committing to a bipartisan ticket, there could be one nonetheless. A well-funded group of national political experts from both parties called "Unity '08," led by Republican pollster Douglas Bailey and former Democratic presidential aide Hamilton Jordan, is ready to fill the void and run a third, bipartisan ticket that would be nominated online through a virtual convention.


Lanny J. Davis, special counsel to President Bill Clinton from 1996 to 1998, is the author of "Scandal: How 'Gotcha' Politics Is Destroying America" (Palgrave Macmillan).

[NV1962]

6. Yeah, Laura and Hillary on the ticket in 2008!

In other news: Free Crack With School Lunches! Eric Heiden Breaks New Ice Skating Record In Hell! Love At Last: Mother Russia Marries Father Jacob!

National Healing®, the stuff that great lemming hordes are made of!

[LeftishBrit]

7. Yes, and we know how well that worked out after Lincoln's assassination

Whether Hamlin would have done better at following Lincoln, it's hard to say; but certainly Johnson's being of the opposition party didn't help matters.

Getting back into modern times, I am uneasy about bipartisan tickets in a two-party system, because I think that it's pre-empting the voters' decision in an undemocratic way. Coalitions are to deal with the result of a close election, not to anticipate one. But that's just my view.

[ProudDad]

25. Not to mention the racist Johnson ushering in

Jim Crow...

No repuke deserves a place at that table!

[Contrite]

8. Hmmm. I smell McCain-Lieberman in this. n/t

[NV1962]

10. That's no fair - it's supposed to be BI-partisan! :-)

[Contrite]

11. You mean, like our Congress?

:evilgrin:

[NV1962]

12. Supposedly, yes...

;-)

[struggle4progress]

20. Davis is certainly stumping for Lieberman-Somebody

[MonkeyFunk]

9. well

this idea makes the rounds every 4 years. It's nothing new, and it's not going to happen.

[enigmatic]

13. no way

No Fucking Way. McCain and Lieberman could run a ticket on a bi-partisan platform except for one thing; both parties hate them w/ a passion. And 2 War Escalators running for President and Vice-President for 2008? A Yakov Smirnoff and Gallager ticket has about as good a chance to win as they do.

[NV1962]

14. Haha! Hail the Otis & Westinghouse ticket in 08!

The best escalators in the world joining forces! :rofl:

[OKNancy]

16. The buzz is that Hagel might be picked

I heard this on one of the political talk shows.

[OKNancy]

19. Face the Nation... something is up

replying to my own post because Bob Sheaffer asked Hagel if he was going to change parties. He said if he runs it will be as a Republican BUT... he says there is a groundswell for some sort of new alignment. I smell something.

[dsc]

17. simply unbelievable

First his utter ignorance is astounding. The man is a lawyer for Christ's sake. The Constitution doesn't forbid the President and VP from being from the same state. It forbids the electoral college members from that state from voting for the ticket. So under the senario he presented Clinton and Guiliani would be OK.

Second, are you fucking kidding me? Just what would the middle ground be on gay rights or abortion not to mention taxes. Why should any GOP advice be sought on taxes they surely didn't ask for our advice. Davis needs to crawl back into the hole he has been living in and let serious Democrats run the show.

[GeorgeGist]

18. You betcha...

heck of a job Lincoln did forcing the United States together.

[ProudDad]

26. ???

[ripple]

21. A McCain/Lieberman ticket wouldn't surprise me at all

Not that I would consider that a bipartisan ticket, but on paper it would appear so.

[sendero]

23. In politics..

... anyone is free to try any gambit they think might give them an edge, but I don't see this accomplishing much.

As someone famously said "the vice presidency is not worth a bucket of warm spit".

In any event, if a Dem candidate chooses a Republican running mate he can kiss my vote goodbye. I'm all for pragmatism, but I'm tired of this sort of cheesy appeasement.

[Infinite Hope]

24. Thank you! Nice to see some sense. I've been saying for a while...

...the McCain/Lieberman ticket will never happen. A loony from the opposite party of the presidential candidate will inevitably assassinate the president to make their VP president. It's all stupid. There will never be a bipartisan ticket.