Hillary asks ex-Freeporter to launch campaign to win her the nod as Obama’s running mate

June 4th, 2008 at 01:22pm Pat Cunningham

 

Robert Johnson, who grew up in Freeport and went on to become America’s first black billionaire as the founder of Black Entertainment Television, SAYS  Hillary Clinton has asked him to launch a campaign to get Barack Obama to offer her the veep slot.

Five months ago, Johnson took a CHEAP SHOT at Obama in connection with the Illinois senator’s admitted use of drugs as a teenager.  Johnson later apologized, but there were numerous other instances in which Clinton surrogates smeared Obama with racial innuendoes and such.

UPDATE: Obama has APPOINTED a three-person team, headed by Caroline Kennedy, to help screen potential running mates. None of the three are Clintonistas.

POSTSCRIPT: The more I think about it, the more I consider efforts by Bob Johnson (and the insufferable Lanny Davis, I’ve learned in the past hour) likely to doom any chance that Obama would pick Hillary for veep.  This guys have political tin ears. The last thing Obama wants to do at this point is show himself so weak as to bow to a petition drive favoring Clinton as running mate — a petition drive headed by leaders of Hillary’s pack of sore losers. Remember where you heard it: Obama definitely will not pick Clinton. He’d be crazy to do that.

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized