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Clinton-Obama ticket stirs fear in GOP
'Listen, we've got some lackluster people running on our side'

The possibility that a potential Democratic presidential primary matchup between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama could lead to a Clinton-Obama ticket is raising concerns in GOP circles that it might be unbeatable.

While Democratic strategists are more skeptical of the success of a ticket composed of two minorities, some Republican advisers to the White House and leading 2008 hopefuls Sen. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani see the ticket as an easy winner built on the enthusiasm it would generate in Democratic circles.

Their theory is that Clinton would stand a good chance to pick up the states that Sen. John Kerry won in 2004. While not enough to win the election on her own, the addition of Obama would help push closely divided states like Ohio over into the Democratic column, thereby giving the Clinton-Obama ticket the White House.

"Listen, we've got some lackluster people running on our side, and that is exactly the kind of ticket that would get their side in a fever pitch," said a Bush ally. Democrats aren't so sure it would work, though, because of Clinton's high negatives and Obama's short résumé and race. But the Bush adviser said those factors are actually winners: Obama could help soften Clinton's image and bring more African-American voters to the ticket as well as independents seeking real and symbolic change.