Not A Good Time for The Obama Presidency to Fall Apart

KOMPAS.com - He's the leader of the free world and the power he wields requires him to appear in control at all times. So a presidential seal crashing down from his lectern in the middle of a speech is not something he needs - especially with the mid-term elections less than a month away.

But this is precisely what happened when he was halfway through giving a speech at Fortune magazine's 'Most Powerful Women Summit'. On hearing it fall the President uttered 'Oops, oh goodness' and seeing the opportunity to crack a joke said: 'That's all right. All of you know who I am.'

As the audience laughed, he carried on 'But I'm sure there's somebody back there that's really nervous right now, don't you think?, referring to whichever member of staff had hung the seal so precariously.

'They're sweating bullets,' he said, laughing. 'Anyway, where were we?'

It happened about halfway through the president's remarks to Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women Summit at Carnegie Mellon Auditorium. The incident came amid speculation that Mr Obama will join forces with Hillary Clinton to run as a 'dream ticket' pairing in the 2012 election.

'It's on the table,' veteran Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward said on CNN's John King, USA on Tuesday.

'Some of Hillary Clinton's advisers see it as a real possibility in 2012.'

Mr Woodward said the scenario would see Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama's current Vice President, Joe Biden, switch places.

Speculation has been around for months but Mr Woodward's comments suggest that the idea is actually being discussed in the White House.

Many see it as a strategy to electrify the Democratic base, in a slump as the shine of the Obama presidency wears off.

It also leaves the way clear for Mrs Clinton to make another run at the presidency herself in 2016.

'Now you talk to Hillary Clinton or her advisers and they say "no, no there's not a political consideration here,"' Mr Woodward said yesterday.

'Of course the answer is, you point out to them that her clout around the world when she goes to Europe, Asia, anywhere is in part, not just because she's Secretary of State or because she was married to President Clinton, that people see a potential future president in her.'