Obama-Clinton, Clinton-Obama

At Slate, Constitutional scholar Akhil Reed Amar suggests a way in which that Senators Obama and Clinton could share the presidency for four terms:

In August at the Democratic National Convention, the party would nominate one candidate for president and the other for vice president in the time-honored way. In their acceptance speeches, the nominees would announce that they intend to alternate. For example, they could tell the voters that the person heading the Democratic ticket would, if elected, take office in January 2009 but would serve as president for only the first three years of the four-year term. In January 2012, the teammates would use the 25th Amendment to switch places, and the person elected vice president would assume the presidency for the final year of the term. There is nothing magical about these dates. Almost any date would do. For maximal democratic legitimacy, however, the candidates should inform the voters before the election of the specific date when their planned shift of power will occur....

Ticket-flipping, then, provides a brilliant way for the Democrats to leverage the advantages of incumbency after 2009 so as to stretch their potential presidential tenure over the ensuing 16 years rather than the standard eight. The arrangement requires two strong candidates, each of whom is very plausibly presidential and each of whom has a large and intense political base, whose enthusiasm would be needed to assure success in the general election. This year the Democrats are blessed with two such powerhouses.

Since there is nothing unconstitutional about this as you can only be elected twice, ticket-sharing is a way in which two strong candidates can propel the Democratic party to power for years without destroying the party. Of course, you need to believe that they will run together as a ticket, which I still cannot though Amar makes a case for it. Yet, as I am watching Morning Joe and listening to the discussion of Bill Clinton as "Joe McCarthy," Bill Richardon as "Judas," and Hillary Clinton's Bosnia trip and Senator Obama's attacks on Clinton's foreign policy and the Bosnia trip, chances of Clinton and Obama running together seems slim.