TPM Reader CN …
Let’s be clear about what Hillary is doing here. By signaling that she’ll take the VP slot if offered — and insinuating that a joint ticket is necessary to heal the party(!) — she is foregoing the normal diplomatic niceties in order to screw Obama. It sticks him with the choice between looking like the bad guy (for not offering) and doing something he really doesn’t want to do (putting her on the ticket). Either way, he loses. And either way, she wins: she gets on the ticket or else she engenders a lot of bitterness in her supporters, hurting Obama’s chances in November (and thereby increasing her chances for a 2012 run).
I don’t agree that it’s necessarily the intention; but it is the effect. Obama absolutely cannot give in to pressure to give Clinton the VP slot. If he decides she helps him, that it makes sense for the campaign and his potential presidency, great. It might be a unstoppable combination. But he cannot and I suspect that he will not allow himself to be muscled.
