Beshear's thinking Obama-Clinton

LEXINGTON -- As Kentucky's three undecided superdelegates made the migration today from a precarious fence-sitting position to the camp of now-presumptive Democratic nominee, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, several made overtures calling on Obama to add Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) to his ticket as a Vice Presidential candidate.

Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington), who did not endorse as a superdelegate until today, promoted the so-called "dream ticket" of Obama and Clinton, his former opponent in the combative Democratic presidential primary, on two occassions Friday.

"We need to put forth the strongest possible ticket this fall. Therefore, I have written personal letters to both Senator Obama and Senator Clinton, urging Senator Obama to select Senator Clinton as his running mate and urging Senator Clinton to accept any such offer. In my opinion, such a ticket would be unbeatable," said Beshear in the statement circulated Friday by the Kentucky Democratic Party announcing the superdelegate endorsement.

During his keynote address at Friday evening's Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Lexington, Beshear again praised Clinton and called for a joint-ticket between the two former foes.

"I don’t know about you, but I think a very strong ticket would be an Obama Clinton ticket," said Beshear. "I think that would be a dream ticket."

The support of Clinton from prominent Kentucky Democrats comes after the New York Senator won the state's May 20 primary by 35 points over Obama.

The Obama-Clinton ticket itself polls well in the state among Clinton supporters, according to a recent measurement by the New Jersey-based firm SurveyUSA, commissioned by Louisville station WHAS.

The poll of 400 Clinton supporters found just 21 percent indicating they would choose Obama in November, with Clinton out of the race. 20 percent would go for McCain, while 37 percent indicated picking their vote was "impossible to say" at this point. 14 percent indicated "no candidate" in that measure.

However, an Obama-Clinton ticket would galvanize more of those Clinton supporters to choose Obama. 57 percent among those polled would go for Obama, given that pairing, with McCain's total among that population dropping to 13 percent.

One other Kentucky superdelegate - previously committed to Senator Clinton - also spoke out for an Obama-Clinton ticket today in an interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal.

"My dream ticket was Clinton-Obama. Now it's Obama-Clinton," said Terry McBrayer, a former Kentucky Democratic Party chair and superdelegate.