Vice President Obama?

Hillary -- feeling her oats -- suggests that she might offer Obama the VP slot on a unity ticket. As if.

But wait -- if you're Obama, wouldn't it make sense to take it? After all you'd occupy the high ground and gain the undying gratitude of a weary party.

So let's say he takes it -- putting party unity above his own ambition. I suppose his thinking is that he'll have a pretty good chance of ascending to the presidency while still a relatively young man. Never mind that history doesn't support that idea. Lately, old political nostrums and conventional wisdom don't mean much.

But on the other hand, it seems likely that Hillary would be a loser running against McCain. Her negatives are too high, she doesn't get the Independents that McCain does and those stray Republicans who might have voted for Obama out of frustration with Bush will NEVER vote for Hillary. So if your're Obama, you're thinking "who needs to go down with THAT battleship?"

And not only that -- having failed in '08, it is even harder for him to win the nomination at the top of some future ticket -- and even rarer still to win election. FDR did it after losing the election with Cox in 1920 to Warren Harding. But, holy crap, that was almost 90 years ago.

So, if I'm Barack Obama, I'd have to say "thanks, but no thanks" to Hillary's invitation to be her running mate.

But, fact is, he would still be in control of his own destiny because by the time the Pennsylvania primary is past, he'll still be leading in the delegate count.

However, would the nomination be worth anything after the Clintons scorch the earth under his feet? That's a question I can't answer at this distance from the convention.

But I think Obama would be willing to make a go of it and the contrast he would offer versus McCain would still make him the guy to beat in November.

That's just my opinion; I could be wrong.

But I doubt it.