Hillary Clinton, Madame Vice President

A Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton ticket is an idea that I have been promoting as a real political possibility—to much skepticism, I admit. But none other than my fellow Greek-American George Stephanopoulos also thinks it could happen: "I mean, first of all, would Senator Obama go for it? Can he get over the bitterness of this campaign? Can he be convinced that it's the strongest ticket? Third, of course, would Senator Clinton take it? I think if it was offered in the right way, yes."

I think a guy like Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia would be a logical pick—downscale appeal, a Vietnam vet, defense background as a Navy secretary under Ronald Reagan, from a swing state. Currently, the Intrade betting market gives "the field" the best odds of getting picked, at 35 percent. That means someone (Claire McCaskill? Ed Rendell? Colin Powell?) other than listed potential candidates Hillary, Webb, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Al Gore, Wes Clark, Mark Warner, Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, Sam Nunn, Ted Strickland, Tom Daschle, Chris Dodd, Tom Vilsack, and John Kerry. Of that group, Hillary is in first with 18 percent, and Webb second at 11 percent.

Dan Clifton, ace political analyst over at Strategas Research and a friend of this blog, gives his two cents on Obama's veep choice:

Obama may need to pick someone fast to rebuild the support he is losing from Clinton supporters. We also believe Obama needs to pick someone who is strong on defense, more conservative than him, and has lots of experience. The challenge is that someone in this category will most likely upset the liberal base, so the first week after the announcement could be rough.

My take: I am not sure Hillary Clinton meets any of those criteria, but I think she would rather make history—and maybe set herself up for 2012 if the ticket loses—than putter around the Senate.