CNN: Bill Clinton a VP consideration?

[wyldwolf]

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/candidates/vp.contenders/

STOP! Yes, it is constitutionally legal, though a court challenge by the repugs would probably happen.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/LAW/08/columns/fl.dorf.goreclinton.08.01/

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=32331

But this will never happen anyway.

[LTR]

1. Drudge made mention of it

I think CNN put that up in jest. Seemed like kind of a fluff feature on their site.

But you know Drudge will make a mountain out of mule shit, right?

[librechik]

2. No wait, let's put McCain and Clinton together!

silly gits.

[malatesta1137]

3. I like Clinton and told him that in person

BUT his running for VP is suicide. He was impeached, unfairly I might add, but having an impeached former president on the ticket will destroy it. Can you picture yourself putting up with all that bullshit about Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and Monica all over again? Give it up.

[struggle4progress]

6. So Clinton should offer to run as Bush's VP

[lancdem]

9. LOL

[Kinkistyle]

8. How many "Bush 2000" voters now yearn for the Clinton years?

Yeah, he got a blowjob in office, but boy were those the good old days.

[lancdem]

10. Don't worry

There's zero chance of that happening.

[Beatrix]

21. He was never convicted in the senate

if he was actually impeached he would be forbidden from holding office ANYWHERE in the United States his ENTIRE life as per the constitution.

[Yupster]

24. He was legally impeached

He was not convicted by the Senate.

House impeaches.
Senate convicts.

[emulatorloo]

4. What scares the repuglicans makes us stronger

Personally I am loving the VP rumors - if McCain mentions give Rove heartburn, Clinton mentions give him palpitations. Somebody somewhere is playing a good psych-out game on GWB et al.

[jpgray]

5. I say we genetically engineer a McCain/Clinton lovechild for VP (nt)

[Zen Democrat]

7. If Cheney is legal, then Clinton would be legal ....

Amendment XII

The electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves;

According to the 12th Amendment, Texas electors were prohibited from casting electoral votes for Cheney in 2000 since his residence was Dallas, and Dubya's was Austin. Somehow the Courts didn't see this as a problem.

[dumpster_baby]

11. Clinton has already said that he would not run as VP

I saw him say so on CSPAN. He said it clearly ran counter to the spirit of the relevant parts of the Constitution.

BTW, the legality of that scenario is highly questionable anyway.

Also, I hate the neoliberal fucker myself, and I think he ought to be tried for economic treason, considering that he presided over the beginning of the free trade jobs debacle that we are currently seeing.

[napi21]

12. I didn't think Clinton could be VP because that position is

primarily there to fill the Presidency in the event the President cannot serve. Maybe a technicality, but I guess the ammendment does say "cannot be elected to more than 2 terms".

It won't happen anyway, but it's got to make Bill feel GREAT just hearing that (and you can bet someone heard it and told him). But even better is that a comment like that from a very RW talkshow nut has got to drive Rove, Cheney, & Shrub literaly CRAZY!!!!

Don't ya just love it!!!!!

[happynewyear]

13. he's being nominated for sainthood on the other thread here

I'll contact the pope personally to arrange for the beatification of Saint Clinton. Who needs to be a "vice-president"? :P LOL!

[Padraig18]

14. It *might* be legal; that's NOT a 'given'.

No one knows whether it would pass muster, or not...

[struggle4progress]

15. I'd bet heavily against it passing muster.

[UTUSN]

16. How Could This Be?

The 22 or whatever Amendment says you have to be QUALIFIED to be president. O.K., stay with me, if you have already served 2 (TWO) terms as president, you canNOT be president,THEREFORE you canNOT be vice-president. But of course I could be wrong.

[Yupster]

25. So if Clinton was elected VP

and President Kerry died in office, would Clinton be president for part of a third term? Or would the presidency skip him and go to Hastert?

[lanparty]

17. It's not legal.

He cannot assume the office of the presidency. So he cannot be named VP.

The only way he could become president now is as part of presidential succession. For example, he could be speaker of the house and succeed if the President and VP vacated their offices. Also, he could be nominated as a cabinet officer and succeed after the speaker of the house.

All this talk is silly. President Clinton hs better things to do. I could see him being nominated as UN Ambassador and end up being Secretary General. He has that much respect in the world.

[Bill McBlueState]

18. 12th amendment rules it out

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

That's the last sentence of amendment 12. Seems to me that unambiguously rules out the Big Dog for VP.

[Yupster]

26. I think you're right

WMass

[VolcanoJen]

19. It angers me that the "Liberal Media" thinks we have nobody more worthy...

... for the Veep spot on the Democratic ticket than the Clintons, and John McCain, of course.

They're so full of shit, and their ceaseless speculation is boring the hell out of me. I adore the Clintons, and occasionally admire McCain, but DAMMIT, there exists a wealth of talented Democrats in our party from which to harvest a Perfect Veep.

Damn the boring fake-speculation-inventing media. Damn them all to hell.

[JI7]

20. i think it has more to do with ratings

they know it's VERY unlikely kerry will pick them to be vp. but it gets a lot of attention and interest and RATINGS which is what they most care about.

they know it would get more ratings on tv or sell more papers and magazines if it was about mccain or clintons being picked for vp than reporting on those kerry is more likely to pick such as clark, edwards, gephardt etc and doing an analysis on what they would bring to the ticket.

it's the same as the whole talk about hillary joining the primary. remember how they kept talking about it. no matter how many times she said she wont run they kept talking about it. even now there are some who think at the convention they will hand the nomination to her.

[VolcanoJen]

22. See, the media thinks they have to "sex up" politics...

... in order to get viewers to pay attention. And I just don't believe that's the case. I think they're all assholes, and smut-peddlers, and boring as all get-out.

I'm so bored of the spoon-fed, absolutely invented hype that passes as political journalism today. It's so frustrating, so discouraging. Of course none of what they're "speculating" about will ever come to pass... but they report on it anyway. What are the masses to think, and who are they to believe, when Kerry announces as his VP choice someone who is not a Clinton? Someone who is not McCain?

I agree with your analysis of their motive, JI7. Their motive just pisses me the hell off.

[jayctravis]

23. Seem to remember from my government class

that the only way one person could be President longer than eight years is for a Vice President to become President. The "third" term can be no longer than two years...

President A dies suddenly of a noble heart-attack while attending a grade-school photo op picnic on the rose lawn one week into the third year of his first term. Vice President B becomes President, finishes the rest of the term just shy of two years...runs for President and is elected. I *think* he can serve a four year term, and then have his second full four-year term.

Clinton has served four years as President, and none as VP. One of the rules of Vice Presidency is that the person in the office must legally be able to fill the Presidency.

Is there a hard-limit on how many years one person may serve as Vice President? If Clinton were Veep, and something happened...could he take the Presidency for two years and then call a special election?

I'm sure I've got it all twisted, but I'm noob.

[Yupster]

27. No such thing as a special election for president

There's an order of succession for president that goes over a dozen people or more.