Barack Obama yesterday launched his search for a running mate – as Democratic calls for a “marriage” to rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton reached new heights.
With the party sharply divided after a bruising primary season – and with Clinton having won many key states – a growing number of Democratic officials are now openly talking about an Obama-Clinton ticket that could unite the factions and take back the White House in November.
Bill Clinton is among those who want his wife on Obama’s ticket, Time magazine reported yesterday.
The former president “is pushing real hard for this to happen,” says a friend, according to the magazine.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a Clinton booster, told The Post, “I am one that believes that if it works out that Senator Obama is the nominee, the strongest ticket would be Senator Clinton as vice president. No question in my mind.
“Because the constituencies in the votes are different,” she added.
“The weight of the states he carried versus the states she carried. It’s different. And, therefore, if you combine them both, you’ve got the best electoral path.”
Feinstein said she promotes an Obama-Clinton ticket with everyone she talks to.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a vice chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, said, “I’ll encourage [Obama] to ask, and if he does, for her to say yes.”
He added, “She would be a good president if something ever were to happen to him. She’ll deliver a heck of a lot of women in a lot of states.”
Other possible options are governors, such as Arizona’s Janet Napolitano, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, and Tim Kaine of Virginia; foreign-policy experts, such as former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden; or other senators, such as Missouri’s Claire McCaskill and Virginia’s Jim Webb.
Obama has enlisted Jim Johnson, the former Fannie Mae chief who vetted veep prospects for Sen. John Kerry in 2004, to lead the search, Democratic officials said.
The process is being handled discreetly at a time when Obama – who’s within 100 delegates of securing the nomination – doesn’t want to seem as if he’s shoving Clinton off the stage.
Speculation ran wild yesterday about whom Obama could put on the ticket, with several political watchers saying he’ll need someone he’s comfortable with, some arguing he needs geographic balance, and others pushing for national-security expertise.
Obama yesterday refused to acknowledge that the search for a running mate is under way, but did not deny Johnson will lead the process.
His aides also declined to discuss any vetting apparatus.
Meanwhile, Gov. Paterson, a Clinton backer, told public radio station WAMC that she should end her efforts to have the Michigan and Florida primaries count.
“I would say at this point, we’re starting to see a little desperation on the part of the woman who I supported and I’ll support until whatever time she makes a different determination,” Paterson said.
With Geoff Earle in Washington
maggie.haberman@nypost.com