Spin Cycle

Apparently Mario Cuomo has decided to practice diplomacy in his post-gubernatorial days.

He has an op-ed in the Boston Globe today. He seems worried that the Dems are going to self-destruct. His proposal is that Hillary and Obama announce a ticket immediately, one for president and one for vice-president, with the v-p targeted for victory in 2016.

He doesn't suggest which one should accept the second spot -- they didn't call him the great equivocator for nothing!! -- but he says that if they can't agree, they can alternatively fight it out until June, and then the winner gets to be the presidential nominee and the loser the v-p spot.

The suggestion that a knock-down, drag-out fight might not be healthy is not "on message" for true Hillary believers, who pretend that it'll make the eventual winner stronger. The suggestion that some mix of Florida/Michigan and big state wins and a "virtual tie" in polls makes the race deadlocked is kind of a pro-Hillary fantasy. Gallup is at 50-43 Obama -- is that a virtual tie? Or, a 150 pledged delegate advantage?

So, he splits the baby. But he ends with a serious warning:

"If, on the other hand, the candidates refuse to work out a way to keep both constituencies firmly in the Democratic camp for the general election, the 2008 primary may be the story of a painfully botched grand opportunity to return our nation to the upward path, and leave us mired in Iraq and government mediocrity."