DECISION 2008 | DEMOCRATS

Group touts `dream ticket'

VoteBoth, which has ties to Hillary Clinton, is calling for an Obama-Clinton Democratic ticket.

mtalev@mcclatchydc.com

A group called VoteBoth has been leading the charge for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to team up on the Democratic ticket.

But the people behind it come from just one of those camps -- Clinton's -- and one of their goals may be keeping Clinton's White House prospects alive.

On Friday, when word went out that Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., didn't see Clinton as Obama's pick for a running mate, VoteBoth released a statement offering respect for Kennedy. But it added, 'We think that the millions of Democrats who have voted for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have something to say, too. Why stop at having a nominee who has the support of 51 percent of Democrats when we could have a `Dream-Team' ticket that has won 100 percent?''

VoteBoth first filed with the Federal Election Commission on April 8, two weeks before the Pennsylvania primary that Clinton won and that was considered a crucial window for her comeback.

ORIGINAL MISSION

The group's original mission promoted the idea of Clinton as the nominee with Obama as her running mate.

On May 1, days after the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's latest divisive remarks and Obama's renouncement of his former pastor, VoteBoth amended its mission.

It now would support a joint ticket in either order, so long as Clinton's name was on the ballot.

Last week, as Obama's strong showing made him all but certain to clinch the nomination, VoteBoth leaders began putting themselves in the spotlight, sending regular press releases, posting blogs and appearing in interviews.

''VoteBoth does not aim to pick who leads the ticket,'' group founder Adam Parkhomenko wrote on The Huffington Post on Tuesday as voters went to the polls in the North Carolina and Indiana primaries.

He wrote of friends who ''believe in Barack as strongly as I believe in Hillary'' and wanting to be inclusive ``as a matter of fairness, practicality, experience and hope.''

CHANGE OF PLANS

On Friday, Parkhomenko said through a spokesman that his decision to change the mission came after talking to an Obama supporter. He also said he gave neither the Clinton nor Obama campaigns a heads-up about his group.

Parkhomenko, until recently, worked as an assistant to Patti Solis Doyle, who was Clinton's campaign manager until February. Parkhomenko in 2003 founded the Draft Hillary for President Committee.

VoteBoth's spokesman is Sam Arora. He's a law school student who in recent years worked for Clinton and for former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, Clinton's presidential campaign chairman.

VoteBoth's Facebook page lists three others as administrators, all with Clinton connections.

One is a Richmond-based Democratic technology consultant, who was quoted in a New York Times story about the Iowa Democratic Party's 2006 Jefferson-Jackson dinner, where he was passing out ''Hillary for President'' stickers.

Another appears online in a photo with Hillary Clinton and others at a summer leadership program from 2006.

A third is a history professor and campaign contributor whom Clinton named earlier this year in a press release of prominent Virginians to endorse her.

JUST VOLUNTEERS

In an interview Friday, Arora said VoteBoth is not coordinated with Clinton's campaign, and is ``just a bunch of us volunteering our time because we think this is a good idea.''

Despite the lopsided Clinton connections, he said it isn't just about supporting Clinton but also about bringing together the rivals' historic turnout and fundraising machines and constituencies.

Obama's campaign declined comment on VoteBoth.

The Clinton campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

 

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