The Ultimate Punishment

Well, he wouldn't be the first Jewish nominee for VP.

An alliance with Hillary "would be a nightmare ticket, both dysfunctional and illogical. Opposites usually don't mesh in politics," Barnes writes. "Sure, LBJ helped JFK win the presidency in 1960. But Clinton isn't LBJ. Rendell comes closer to the LBJ model."

But, asks Atlantic's Marc Ambinder, could she really turn it down?

"Horribly premature to ask that question, perhaps, and the conventional wisdom everywhere in the political world is, basically, no way, not Hillary, never . . .

"A very close friend of Clinton's told me that accepting the vice presidential nomination in theory was very different than actually being given the chance to become vice president in reality."

But she doesn't really need it, Josh Marshall opines:

"Does Hillary Clinton really want the vice presidency? It seems to me that the senate offers her a better venue for achieving her ambitions and goals personally, politically and in public policy -- and a future in public life with much greater longevity -- than anything she'll find as Barack Obama's number two . . .

"If Obama wins the presidency, Hillary would not be able to run in her own right until 2016, when she will turn 69. As John McCain is showing, that's certainly not too old to run for president. But she will be nearing the age when 'age' becomes an issue in her candidacy.

"Most people who accept the vice presidency do so either because they believe it will line them up to succeed to the presidency or because it brings them to a level of power and honor their careers held little prospect of bringing them otherwise. But neither applies to Hillary Clinton. She's already of the stature and standing to run for president. She's a genuinely historic figure. And she's already been heavily involved in a successful two term administration."

HRC might have her eyes on another prize, in the estimation of Tom Edsall:

"Democrats, both those who are loyal and those who are opposed to her campaign, say the odds of her winning a top leadership spot in the Senate would improve dramatically if she gracefully conceded now. The icing on the cake includes an improved political climate, giving Hillary and Bill Clinton the opportunity to heal the rift with the black political community . . .

"While Clinton currently has her eye focused on only one thing, the presidential nomination, if she loses -- as appears increasingly likely -- her stature in the Senate will depend, in part, on whether she is ultimately seen as helping or hurting Obama's chances in November.