Hillary Clinton says Bill for Veep has 'crossed her mind.' Legal?
Hillary Clinton says she鈥檚 thought about putting hubby Bill on her ticket as the Democratic Party鈥檚 vice presidential candidate.
In with the syndicated TV program 鈥淓xtra,鈥� Mrs. Clinton said that a Clinton/Clinton ticket has 鈥渃rossed her mind.鈥�
鈥淗e would be good, but he鈥檚 not eligible, under the Constitution,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e has served his two terms and I think the argument would be as vice president it would not be possible for him to ever succeed to the [presidency] 鈥� at least that鈥檚 what I鈥檝e been told.鈥�
Here鈥檚 our argument 鈥� she鈥檚 been told wrong. Or she鈥檚 not imparting the full legal story. Because there is a good case to be made that Bill Clinton under the Constitution is perfectly eligible to be VP.
At issue here is how two constitutional amendments fit together. The 12th Amendment says, in essence, that you can鈥檛 be vice president if you鈥檙e ineligible to be president. And the key part of the 22nd Amendment says this: 鈥淣o person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.鈥�
See the loophole? If a VP steps up to the presidency, they鈥檙e not elected. It鈥檚 automatic, in case of an unforeseen tragedy.
鈥淚f this view is correct, then Clinton is not 鈥榗onstitutionally ineligible to the office of president,鈥� and is not barred by the 12th Amendment from being elected vice president,鈥� wrote attorney Scott Gant and political scientist Bruce Peabody on the Clinton/Clinton question in 2006.
Bill Clinton鈥檚 probably figured this out. His parsing of the law is pretty narrow, remember. He famously quibbled over the of 鈥渋s鈥� in grand jury testimony on the Monica Lewinsky case.
But wishes aren鈥檛 horses and 鈥渃an鈥� doesn鈥檛 mean 鈥渟hould.鈥� While Bill remains pretty popular, that鈥檚 because he鈥檚 an ex-president, not a current candidate. The second he stepped back into the arena, those poll numbers would start to decline.
And the drama the ex-president might generate would threaten to overshadow the top of the ticket. Given his skill and enthusiasm for campaigning he鈥檇 probably out-draw his wife, which would not be a good thing. And Republicans would be apoplectic. They鈥檇 unite in a heartbeat. A Clinton/Clinton ticket might even bring together Donald Trump and Jeb Bush.
Of course, Hillary was probably joking when she mentioned Bill in this context. She knows it鈥檚 a political nonstarter. And maybe she realizes that there鈥檚 a more experienced VP choice staring her in the face: Joe Biden. Naming him now might defuse his presidential ambitions. And there鈥檚 no constitutional bar to a three-term VP.
