The Volokh Conspiracy - Fidel Castro Endorses Clinton-Obama Ticket.--

Reuters is reporting that Cuba's ailing Fidel Castro has suggested a Clinton-Obama ticket for the US general election:

HAVANA (Reuters) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is tipping Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to team up and win the U.S. presidential election.

Clinton leads Obama in the race to be the Democratic nominee for the November 2008 election, and Castro said they would make a winning combination.

"The word today is that an apparently unbeatable ticket could be Hillary for president and Obama as her running mate," he wrote in an editorial column on U.S. presidents published on Tuesday by Cuba's Communist Party newspaper, Granma.

At 81, Castro has outlasted nine U.S. presidents since his 1959 revolution turned Cuba into a thorn in Washington's side by building a communist society about 90 miles offshore from the United States.

He said all U.S. presidential candidates seeking the "coveted" electoral college votes of Florida have had to demand a democratic government in Cuba to win the backing of the powerful Cuban exile community.

Clinton and Obama, both senators, called for democratic change in Cuba last week. . . .

Castro said former President Bill Clinton was "really kind" when he bumped into him and the two men shook hands at a U.N. summit meeting in 2000. He also praised Clinton for sending elite police to "rescue" shipwrecked Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives in 2000 to end an international custody battle.

But even Clinton was forced to bow to Miami politics and tighten the U.S. embargo against Cuba in 1996, using as a "pretext" the shooting down of two small planes used by exile groups to overfly Havana, Castro wrote.

He said his favorite U.S. president since 1959 was Jimmy Carter, another Democrat, because he was not an "accomplice" to efforts to violently overthrow the Cuban government.

Initially, I thought that a Clinton-Obama ticket was both strong and possible, but the recent nastiness between these their camps leads me to think that a Clinton-Richardson or Obama-Edwards ticket is more likely. My guess (and I'm a bad prognosticator) is that Clinton will win the presidency and that a Clinton-Richardson ticket would be a strong one.

On the Republican side, I think a Guliani/Rice ticket might do fairly well. However (as Steve Calabresi and I wrote in the Yale Law Journal), eventually the party in office loses power--and losses in the 6th year of a presidency usually presage a switch in party in the next election.

BTW, I have not turned on comments--which are usually insightful--because I don't have time today to police the occasional (though unfortunately predictable) nonsensical comments EITHER (1) that Castro's support should be used against Clinton and Obama OR (2) that my pointing to this interesting Reuters story indicates that I am somehow arguing that Obama (whom I have supported and voted for several times) or Clinton are unsuitable for the presidency because they received support (which they did not seek and would reject) from an ailing totalitarian leader.

	[Jim Lindgren, August 30, 2007 at 3:00am] Trackbacks Fidel Castro Endorses Clinton-Obama Ticket.-- Reuters is reporting that Cuba's ailing Fidel Castro has suggested a Clinton-Obama ticket for the US general election: HAVANA (Reuters) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro is tipping Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to team up and win the U.S. presidential election. Clinton leads Obama in the race to be the Democratic nominee for the November 2008 election, and Castro said they would make a winning combination. "The word today is that an apparently unbeatable ticket could be Hillary for president and Obama as her running mate," he wrote in an editorial column on U.S. presidents published on Tuesday by Cuba's Communist Party newspaper, Granma. At 81, Castro has outlasted nine U.S. presidents since his 1959 revolution turned Cuba into a thorn in Washington's side by building a communist society about 90 miles offshore from the United States. He said all U.S. presidential candidates seeking the "coveted" electoral college votes of Florida have had to demand a democratic government in Cuba to win the backing of the powerful Cuban exile community. Clinton and Obama, both senators, called for democratic change in Cuba last week. . . . Castro said former President Bill Clinton was "really kind" when he bumped into him and the two men shook hands at a U.N. summit meeting in 2000. He also praised Clinton for sending elite police to "rescue" shipwrecked Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives in 2000 to end an international custody battle. But even Clinton was forced to bow to Miami politics and tighten the U.S. embargo against Cuba in 1996, using as a "pretext" the shooting down of two small planes used by exile groups to overfly Havana, Castro wrote. He said his favorite U.S. president since 1959 was Jimmy Carter, another Democrat, because he was not an "accomplice" to efforts to violently overthrow the Cuban government. Initially, I thought that a Clinton-Obama ticket was both strong and possible, but the recent nastiness between these their camps leads me to think that a Clinton-Richardson or Obama-Edwards ticket is more likely. My guess (and I'm a bad prognosticator) is that Clinton will win the presidency and that a Clinton-Richardson ticket would be a strong one. On the Republican side, I think a Guliani/Rice ticket might do fairly well. However (as Steve Calabresi and I wrote in the Yale Law Journal), eventually the party in office loses power--and losses in the 6th year of a presidency usually presage a switch in party in the next election. BTW, I have not turned on comments--which are usually insightful--because I don't have time today to police the occasional (though unfortunately predictable) nonsensical comments EITHER (1) that Castro's support should be used against Clinton and Obama OR (2) that my pointing to this interesting Reuters story indicates that I am somehow arguing that Obama (whom I have supported and voted for several times) or Clinton are unsuitable for the presidency because they received support (which they did not seek and would reject) from an ailing totalitarian leader.