During Thursday night’s “The Kudlow Report” on CNBC, “The Amateur” author Ed Klein said that according to sources within the Clinton camp, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was approached about the possibility of beingPresident Barack Obama’s running mate in November. And, Klein said, she turned it down.
Pundits and talking heads have discussed in recent weeks the possibility of Vice President Joe Biden being replaced on the Democratic presidential ticket, particularly with news of his brief hiatus from the spotlight this weekend.
“Up until just a couple of weeks ago the White House was putting out feelers to see if Hillary would accept the vice-presidential nod and replace Joe Biden,” Klein said. “Bill Clinton was, I’m told, urging his wife to accept the number two slot. He saw this as a great launching pad for her for running in 2016.”
“But then Hillary had lunch in the White House a couple of weeks ago with Valerie Jarrett — Michelle [Obama]’s best friend, senior adviser to both the first lady and the president … and she told Valerie that she would not accept the vice president’s spot. The lunch was ostensibly about other matters, but it came up. … Hillary felt burned out after four years as Secretary of State. But I’m told there were more important reasons for her not accepting.”
Those reasons, Klein explained, involve the former first lady being put in positions that would make her vulnerable if she should decide to run for president four years from now.
“She felt that if she were on the ticket with Obama and he lost, she would be tarred as a loser when she tried to run in 2016,” Klein said. “On the other hand, if she was on the ticket and he won, and he continued his far left-wing socialistic policies, she’d have to defend those policies when she ran in 2016.”
Klein said the talks never involved President Obama out of fear that if Clinton were to turn him down, her husband former President Bill Clinton would leak it out and embarrass Obama. Klein also said the current first lady was aware of the Jarrett-Clinton discussion. Although Hillary Clinton declined, he added, the door isn’t completely shut on her running as the number two.
“You can assume if Valerie Jarrett is speaking to Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama — who is connected at the hip with Valerie Jarrett — knew all about this,” Klein said.
“There is one caveat: If Obama gets in desperate straits and Romney and Ryan pull way ahead of him, and he and Bill Clinton team up and put pressure on Hillary, there’s still a possibility.”
In the end, Klein said Obama would likely stay with Biden.
“I think they are stuck with him. I think they have to go with him, unless, as I say, Bill [Clinton] and Obama can team up on Hillary and say to her, ‘You’ve got to do this.’ She does not want to do it. He would like her to do it — her husband. But I don’t think she will.”
