If Hillary Wins the nomination doesn’t the argument for John McCain to find a black veep become incredibly seductive, assuming such a person exists? If all of this talk about how bitter black voters will be if Obama has the nomination taken from him is remotely true, then a black vice presidential pick for McCain makes enormous sense (tactically, I might have enormous philosophical problems with some possible choices). From Saturday’s Washington Post:
“If this party is perceived by people as having gone into a back room somewhere and brokered a nominee, that would not be good for our party,” House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (S.C.), the highest ranking African American in Congress, warned yesterday. “I’m telling you, if this continues on its current course, [the damage] is going to be irreparable.”
That fear, plus a more general sense that Clinton’s only route to victory would be through tearing down her opponent, has led even some black Democrats who are officially neutral in the race, such as Clyburn, to speak out.
Well, if black Democratic voters are furious with Clinton and her party for tearing down Obama, and if Democrats simply can’t win without the black vote, then mightn’t it be devastating to Clinton’s prospects if McCain were to pick, say, Colin Powell? I’m not saying that the GOP would win the black vote outright. But it might only lose it by relatively small margin. And, lots of black voters might just sit the whole thing out, while lots of independents who want to vote for a black guy would have someplace to go.
This is of course all rank speculation as Obama remains the likely nominee and the bench of acceptably conservative black veep prospects is lamentably small. But if they could pull it off somehow, it would certainly shake things up.