by FOXNews.com
May 14, 2008

Hillary Clinton’s chances at being the Democratic Party nominee are fading — even with her landslide win in West Virginia Tuesday — but Democratic voters and Clinton supporters are keeping the concept of a “dream ticket” pairing with Barack Obama very much alive.

Though some strategists say Obama is looking elsewhere for his No. 2 as he gears his campaign toward a general election battle against John McCain, Clinton’s performance in West Virginia at least proves she’s retained throngs of die-hard backers despite an upward battle for delegates and a growing campaign finance deficit.

She won by 41 points, carrying seniors and women, and working-class and white voters by wide margins.

“They’re getting two different groups of people and we believe bringing them (together) will keep those groups in our column in November,” said Adam Parkhomenko, founder of VoteBoth.com, a new group advocating for a joint ticket.

A new Quinnipiac University national poll out Wednesday found a large majority of Democrats like the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket. By 60-to-33 percent, Democrats said Obama should pick Clinton as his running mate.

Parkhomenko, a former Clinton campaign staffer, initially launched his group in April pushing a Clinton-Obama ticket. But a week ago, before the Indiana and North Carolina primary, he re-launched as “VoteBoth.”

Acknowledging “the math gets harder” for Clinton, he told FOXNews.com the joint ticket idea just makes for good general election strategy no matter who’s on top, and would prevent sour grapes on the Democratic side from either supporting McCain or staying home in November.

It also could be Clinton’s last resort, as the campaign faces down a $20 million debt. Even with Clinton’s West Virginia win, she’s still 165 delegates down from Obama.

VoteBoth has an online petition advocating for a joint ticket, and plans to send it to both candidates’ campaigns, the Democratic National Committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has previously rejected the “dream ticket” idea.

Parkhomenko, who is trying to convince superdelegates to endorse the plan, guessed he had close to 10,000 signatures, and said the group plans to run an ad soon in one of the upcoming primary states — either Oregon, South Dakota or Kentucky.

The Quinnipiac poll also found Obama was doing slightly better against McCain in head-to-head matchups. Obama had 47 percent to McCain’s 40 percent, while Clinton had 46 percent to McCain’s 41 percent. But each had a strong suit. Obama was winning independent voters 48-to-37 percent, while the independents were split 41-to-41 percent in a Clinton-McCain match.

Obama did better among black voters, but women broke for Clinton by slightly more in the matchups.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, one of Clinton’s biggest supporters, told a cable news network on Wednesday that Obama should consider tag-teaming with Clinton against the Republicans in November.

“If Senator Obama becomes our nominee and he wants Clinton — someone to carry the Clinton banner — there’s no question in my mind they should ask Hillary Clinton to be that candidate. I don’t know whether she would accept. I don’t know whether he would do it,” he said. “But don’t settle for someone — a Clinton supporter. You’ve got the real thing, someone who has energized voters.”

No matter how many party voices sign on to the concept, several strategists argue the talk is a dead end. Either Obama wouldn’t want Clinton, or Clinton’s not interested, or she would simply do too much harm to the ticket.

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe dismissed the idea Tuesday that there have been negotiations between the Clinton and Obama camps to get Clinton the vice presidential nomination should she bow out.

Columnist Robert Novak reported a few days ago that Obama’s wife Michelle would probably prevent such a pairing from happening anyway, given her “hostility” toward Clinton.

“The race right now is really not about whether Hillary Clinton catches up, the race is about, ‘Is she gonna be on the ticket with Barack Obama?’” Democratic strategist Peter Mirijanian told FOX News. “That’s the question the Obama campaign is grappling with, and that’s the question the Clinton campaign is grappling with …. I think she is making the case that ‘you need me on the ticket, I will bring the swing states to the ticket.’

“But all indications are, I think the Obama campaign is looking elsewhere.”

FOXNews.com’s Judson Berger contributed to this report.

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