[apologies for length; it's hard to be brief trying address an idea that's this stupid on this many levels.]

I've been trying hard to get my head around the rampant speculation about Hillary becoming Obama's running mate.  Lately there've been broad hints from Hillary surrogates that they think it's a boffo idea, and incessant gossiping from the Villagers that her continuing campaign is an effort to secure the #2 slot.

The ways in which this makes no sense could fill dozens of posts.  First from the Obama perspective:  His whole campaign narrative depends on being the "turn-the-page", transformational outsider, promising to renew the country's political discourse by moving beyond old resentments and starting again.  What could undermine that more than using his "first Presidential decision" to partner with a living symbol of the divisions of the last 20-40 years, whose Gallup "unfavorable" ratings have stayed well over 40% for over a decade?  The nearest parallel I can think of would be if Bill Clinton had chosen Walter Mondale or George McGovern as a running mate in 1992.

What does Hillary bring to the ticket, exactly?  If Obama really thinks he needs to shore up New York, he's in much bigger trouble than any of us ever thought.  Meanwhile her presence on the ticket would be an engraved invitation for the Republicans to rehash nonstop every attack (including the race-baiting ones) ever launched at Obama by Senator Clinton, President Clinton, Terry McAuliffe, Mark Penn or any other surrogate over the last 6 months.  Not to mention it would signal his being too weak to resist political blackmail.

Still, the flogging of this idea among the villagers is no more inane than we've grown to expect from them.  What's harder to comprehend is the stoking of it by Clinton surrogates like McAuliffe; perhaps there's a Trojan Horse strategy at work here that's beyond my comprehension.  Because what, exactly, is in it for her? 

I thought Josh did well the other day in outlining her options.  She's already a Senator from New York, occupying what has to be judged one of the safest seats this side of Robert Byrd.  Her party looks likely to achieve a commanding majority, affording her growing power to influence legislation.  While this year's endorsements don't speak greatly for her popularity in the caucus, most reviews judge her to be an able and respected legislator who has grown into the job well.  Certainly important leadership posts and/or plum committee chairs beckon in the near future.  The Governor's Mansion in Albany is a strong possibility if she wants it.  And if, God forbid, Obama loses, she could still look toward a 2012 run on the "I told you so" platform.

And what should she give this up for?  Well, she could run as Veep and lose.  Many, many Dems would blame her for helping to lose in a won year.  Certainly she would go forward saddled with the Loser mantle that hasn't exactly helped Geraldine Ferraro or Joe Lieberman or even John Edwards. 

Or she could win... what then?  Recent history has inflated our opinion of the office of VP.  But certainly the role of a Vice President Clinton would be nothing like that of the svengali Dick Cheney or even the sympatico junior partner Al Gore.  There is, however, a fitting parallel: a primary runner-up chosen to placate the Party establishment:  George H. W. Bush.  Yes he eventually won the Presidency (just in time to take the blame for the bad policies and rotting institutions left him by Saint Reagan), but first he spent 8 years as an irrelevant joke, jetting off to third-world funerals and being ignored by the rest of the administration.  And Bush in 1980 was 5 years younger than Clinton is now; and nowhere near as well-known or powerful. 

Finally there's the simple question of temperment:  How can anyone who's watched either Clinton for the past 20 years see either one embracing or even tolerating the subservience required of a running mate (mates) or a Second Couple?

To correctly quote John Nance Garner, from Hillary's perspective the value of the Vice Presidency is indeed roughly that of a bucket of warm piss.  And her value as Barack Obama's running mate isn't much greater.