The Hand of Hillary Clinton Behind Obama’s Selection of a Vice Presidential Running Mate

But Clinton isn’t one to be mollified by symbols alone. Very likely, she has demanded - and gotten - a voice into whom Obama ultimately chooses for a running mate. She wants to make sure he chooses someone who will also be her ally in the White House; someone who will champion her cause until a future time when she can again mount another bid for her former abode. It’s the only way she could conceivably become motivated to aggressively and enthusiastically back him.

Despite a recent CBS poll saying a majority of voters would like to see Clinton in the vice presidential slot, she’s smart enough to know it wouldn’t be the right move for her - and therefore won’t push it. The two are philosophically complete opposites and would find it hard to work together. There’s also no faster way to shut someone down than to make them a vice president, where they are prevented from overshadowing or bad-mouthing their boss. Clinton would want the independence to criticize Obama and even outshine him, should the opportunity arise.

Politically, it would also not make the most effective ticket. The public senses the tension between them and will consider them insincere whenever they praise one another.