Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Today on the "Cafferty File" CNN site the idea was discussed of a ticket comprised of senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for president and vice-president respectively.  

Mentioned in this article for his current comments in this same direction was none other than former Bill Clinton aide and now ABC TV correspondent George Stephanopoulos, someone with extensive credentials among those in the New York senator's camp.

In 1960 Kennedy sought to make history as America's first Roman Catholic president.  Forty-eight years later Barack Obama seeks to make history as the nation's first African American chief executive.

Kennedy in 1960 needed electoral strengthening in the South, an area Johnson represented in Texas and knew exceptionally well nationally.  

A current concern has been registered over Obama's inability to register strongly with rural and white collar Americans, and among older citizens.  

So which senator looms as a prospect to boost his prospects in the fall among those groups, and has been successfully courting them in the current campaign?

The answer is Hillary Clinton and there is more to be said in that vein.  Columnist David Broder and others questioned Democratic strategy in the 2000 and 2004 campaigns for not using Bill Clinton more to "shore up the Democratic base."

Could Bill Clinton be called upon to exercise heavy duty lifting in a campaign in which the vice-presidential candidate is someone who also has the last name of Clinton?

An interesting development from today is what Hillary Clinton said while campaigning in West Virginia.  She noted the importance of winning that state, which contains high white rural and blue collar concentration, indicating concern over recent failures there in presidential elections.  

The point the New York senator made involved both Clinton and Obama needing to make a good case in West Virginia to pull the state back into the Democratic column.  

Could this statement in retrospect be seen as the first shot from the bow emanating from a Democratic pragmatic unity ticket?  Could she right now be performing pre-November service for both candidates?

At this moment certain savvy Democratic Party professionals are pulling up as many numbers as possible to see the potential of Hillary Clinton along with husband Bill campaigning assiduously among groups where they are perceived as stronger and Obama weaker.

Obama has undeniably brought new faces into the 2008 political scene based on his message of hope and a fresh beginning, bringing in impressive numbers among young voters as well as independents and Republicans appalled by the neoconservative bent of that party.