redblueamerica.com

Ramesh Ponnuru kicks around the prospect of Obama and Clinton being running mates when the rough nomination scrum is over. Ponnuru presumes Hillary will win, and may offer the veep slot to Obama "in the interests of party unity." I don't buy it.

If Hillary wins, I don't see Obama being even remotely interested in being her vice president. Obama has presented his candidacy as a way to end the Clinton Dynasty. So after talking about that for a year, he joins the court of the Clinton Restoration? Not bloody likely, especially if he has aims of succeeding a Clinton in the White House. Ask Al Gore how that plan worked out. And, like Gore, Obama would soon find that he is actually the No. 3 in the administration, behind co-president Bill. Besides, Hillary needs a quiet, lazy hound to nap under the White House porch while she and Bill run the country. Cuddly Bill Richardson fits the bill nicely (and helps secure the more swingy Hispanic vote).

And if Obama wins, no way he picks Hillary. When you're trying to become the first African-American to be elected president, you don't want to further complicate the political calculus by putting a woman on your ticket. You pick a white man. That white man, I think, will be moderate former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner. And as a bonus, picking a Chez Whitey would allow Obama to get more milage out of his charming dance lessons joke.

Then there's the fact that the Clintonian ego dominates every environment it encounters, like kudzu devouring a roadside telephone pole. It would swallow up Obama, too. And scandals and corruption follow the Clintons everywhere they go. Obama the Clean hardly wants that stink on him.

Nope. Better get your unofficial Obama/Clinton '08 bumper stickers now. Because there will be none coming from an official campaign.