Mario Cuomo on whether the race for the nom will hurt one of them, and why...

[annie1]

the contest between Obama and Clinton is good for them.

March 6th on The Situation Room

BLITZER: How worried are you about that this kind of fight between these two Democrats will hurt the eventual nominee, hurt the party in November?

CUOMO: The best way to get ready for the championship bout is to box before you do. These are boxing matches that get you in shape for the main bout. This notion that, oh, you are going to hurt one another, you are saying bad things about one another, I -- the person who wins this really Herculean match is going to be a big winner.

And if they are smart enough to stay together -- see, the best combination is poetry and prose. So, they have to stay together in one form or another.

Some people would say, well, look, one of them should be vice president and the other the president. If Hillary were at the top, that would be perfect, because you get the first woman, and then, eight years from now, when he's still a kid, you get the first African-American...

BLITZER: So, you would like to see that dream ticket?

CUOMO: I would like to see it one way or the other. But what I want most of all is that they stay very closely together after the final decision.

BLITZER: A lot of Democrats say it is the dream ticket, as you know.

CUOMO: Yes, but one way or another, we need all the people that Hillary brings, all those people under $75,000, all that middle class, all those Hispanics, all those women, and all the people Obama brings, the young people --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: It would really energize the party.

CUOMO: We need them both to have a shot.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0803/05/sitroom.03.html

----

and aside from it all, Long live Mario Cuomo, my former wonderful Governor.

[sandnsea]

1. They just do not get it

If the people Obama was bringing wanted the status quo centrist shit that Hillary offers, WE'D HAVE ALREADY VOTED FOR HER.

[LeftCoast]

4. That's not what they're saying though

Bottom line. The party is split roughly down the middle. It would be nice to get both those sides together (if possible) for the GE.

[scheming daemons]

7. You can't get the sides together if Hillary is at the top of the ticket.....

...she's poisoned the well too much already.


I've never voted for anything other than a Democrat in my life..... and I'm gone from this party if the SDs overturn the pledged delegates and take this away from Obama.


At that point... I would say... blow the party up, and start all over.



Mario Cuomo is part of the "old school" Democrats .... the kind that produced the Mondale candidacy in 1984.

[LeftCoast]

10. Yeah, if present projections hold up, I don't see her at the top of the ticket

Though the race is tight, it's clear she's got the bigger hurdle to overcome. Tonight's loss in WY and and Bill Foster's win in IL (Obama coat-tails!) just seem to compound her difficulties.

[woolldog]

14. lol

so true.

[WinkyDink]

18. So you'll not vote, if she's the nominee?

[sandnsea]

25. For the first time in my life, I might not vote n/t

[JoFerret]

22. HE is centrist

This election will be won by the base. Elections almost always are. they always are if the support is going to be needed after the first little setback or disappointment.

If Obama is elected - and after the first few mistakes or when the disillusionment settles in - that support will wilt and fade and flee.

This is not to say that he ALSO has solid democratic support. That support will stick with it. What I don't know is whether there is enough of that solid support base.

(I miss Edwards)

[NashVegas]

24. He Gets It Just Fine

If Obama wins the nomination, "Hope" is not going to sustain his campaign from June to November. The millions of swing voters who haven't already gotten behind him based on his message of Hope and Change are not going to be convinced to do so.

[JimGinPA]

2. I Disagree - Sorry

Obama will have plenty of options with much less baggage that would not serve to bring the GOP together with verve in the fall.

[Ravy]

3. I believe Cuomo knows what he is talking about. I bet that is what

the sds are waiting for.

[scheming daemons]

5. What Cuomo and other Hillary supporters don't get is this....

The people that are gravitating to Obama are doing so in large part because he is NOT a Washington insider.... he's not a Clinton or a McCain.


That's his whole appeal! A "Dream ticket" kills his appeal. The people who like Obama will leave the Democratic party in droves if Obama is denied the top spot by a backroom SD deal.


You just dont get it.... we want Obama SPECIFICALLY because he is not part of the oligarchy we've lived under the past two decades.


He's the anti-Clinton. The anti-McCain. The anti-Bush.


Cuomo and other Hillary supporters want to hold on to his "young" supporters.. but they won't. His supporters want to divorce the Clintons from the Democratic party.

[Window]

15. They won't be able to hold on to this "old" supporter either if

they don't do the right and proper thing, and that is, back the nominee with the most pledged delegates, etc.

[emilyg]

6. k/r for Cuomo.

[Mooney]

8. I wish Cuomo would run.

I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.

[annie1]

11. So would I. He is one of my favorite people ever.

[fujiyama]

9. Cuomo is a decent guy and obviously hopes for the best for our party

but I don't think he understands that many people will be very upset if Super Delegates simply ignore the winner of the plurality of pledged delegates...and simply giving the VP position as a sort of leftover won't do. I can see the justification of Hillary getting the SDs IF she won the number of pledged delegates...

And while I respect what Cuomo has to say, I find his use of the word "kid" to describe Obama as somewhat condescending.

[annie1]

12. He didn't address dels and superdels and the senario you're talking about....

it hasn't happened come to that, don't worry yet. :)

[WinkyDink]

19. Anything YOU understand, be assured Mario is way ahead of you.

[TomClash]

13. I've said this for a while now to a wide variety of people but

I'm starting to reconsider my position. I don't usually get a positive reaction.

[BootinUp]

16. I agree with Gov. Cuomo as usual. nt

[THUNDER HANDS]

17. ugh - "when he's still a kid"

He's older than fucking bill Clinton was when he ran.

...and nobody likes Hillary.

[Skwmom]

20. When he's still a kid? That's ridiculous. Furthermore, look what the Clintons did

for Gore. After another polarizing Clinton presidency a Rebublican win is all but assured.

[WinkyDink]

21. Nobody's opinion matters except Oprah's.

[SoCalDem]

23. People are not interchangeable

Would a guy standing at the altar, waiting for Madison, just go ahead and get married if Kimberly showed up instead.. I guess he could try Kimberly out for a while, and then divorce her and look up Madison..

.........................................

If two people interview for the same job, does the interviewer say to one.. you would really be an asset to the company and energize the other employees, but hey.. I'm gonna take this other one, and you can be his/her assistant and maybe after a while, you can have the job..?

as painful as it's gonna be, ONE of them HAS to be chosen BY THEMSELVES..free and clear of any obligation to "drag the other one along"..

The Dream ticket nonsense is just that..nonsense.. We HAVE to have a winner ONE winner..

and that means there will also be a loser, and the people who supported that person will have the ultimate say as to whether the "winner" actually wins.. It will be November until we know that..

So even in losing, the loser has some power, because the supporters of that person don't HAVE to support anyone in November.

the sad thing is that McCain may actually win because our system of selecting our candidate is flawed..