What Hillary Clinton as VP Will Cost Barack Obama

It will be a historical repeat of biblical proportion if Barack Obama picks Hillary Clinton as his running mate for the 2008 presidential campaign in the United States. Mrs. Clinton comes with a price tag that may prove too high a political price for Mr. Obama. The cost, I don't think, is defeat, but a diluted win over Senator John McCain, a sort of water-down victory in November.

Let me briefly explain, using an analogy. In the Bible book of Judges, there is a man named Barak. A female judge by the name Deborah told Barak to step up, form an army of Israelites to go to battle against the forces of King Jabin of Canaan.

Hearing Judge Deborah's instructions, Barak told her, "If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!" (Judges 4:8). To which Deborah replied, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey..." (Judges 4:9). Deborah made Barak understand that he would win with or without her, but if he chose to win with her, he would forfeit credit for the military win over Jabin and the Canaanites.

The 2008 analogy of this ancient drama is as follows:

• Barak of Israel symbolizes Barack Obama of the Democrats. Incidentally, the names "Barack" and "Barak" are basically the same. The Hebrew name "Barak" means "thunder". Doesn't that drop a hint of Barack's 'thunderous' speeches? Outwardly, Barack looks and sounds like a strong man. Outwardly.
  
• Deborah of Israel symbolizes Hillary Clinton of the Democrats. One meaning of the name "Deborah" is "bee". Doesn't Hillary's tenacity remind us of a bee sting? Indeed, Hillary portrays a hard-working bee who just won't quit. Her performance in the Democratic primary elections bear witness to that, particularly her big wins towards the end of the campaign season.
  
• King Jabin of Canaan symbolizes Senator John McCain of the Republicans. "Jabin" means "building". Senator McCain comes across as a firm building that has weathered many storms and continues to stand firm.

Now, the real meat of this delicious analogy is found in the exchange between Judge Deborah and Commander Barak, as cited above. Deborah's encouragement to Barak to defeat King Jabin corresponds to Hillary Clinton's June 7th endorsement of Barack Obama, predicting his defeat of Senator McCain. The ancient Barak's refusal to take on Jabin without Deborah at his side would be applicable to Barack Obama, if he were to choose Hillary as his vice presidential candidate. He would be saying, "I can't take on McCain and win without you. I don't just want you on my side; I need you at my side."

Then here is the kicker: Hillary would accept Barack's invitation to join him on the ticket, but with the belief that "there will be no glory for (Barack Obama) in the journey." The Democratic pair would be likely to win the presidency in November 2008, but the "glory" or credit for the victory would be seen as Hillary's, not Barack's. As America should know by now, Hillary Clinton not only knows how to take credit, she knows how to do so loud and long.

That's what is at stake for Mr. Obama in his choice for vice president. The price tag is the glory that should come with victory. Choose Hillary Clinton and forfeit the glory of your victory, or pick someone else and you can have both the victory and the glory.

Thus Barack Obama is right in saying the choice for vice president will be the most important decision he will ever make as a presidential candidate. That choice will determine whether he will be like the thunderous speech but weak-minded Barak of old, or like a fearless man who can stand and win on his own merit.

Let's express Barack's VP decision as a pair of mathematical equations:

• Barack + Hillary = Victory - Glory
• Barack - Hillary = Victory + Glory

Now, let us think...

M.G. Matally