Because it can only help her. Hillary Clinton may still win the nomination. It may help superdelegates feel comfortable sticking with Clinton if they know Obama will a) still get to make history, b) get the experience so many suggest he lacks and c) be the next in line. 16 years of Obama in one of the top two spots would be a dream come true for many Democratic bigwigs.

If she appears to be the conciliatory candidate she’ll have a better chance of getting Obama’s supporters and cash behind her whether he accepts or not. If he says yes, she’ll instantly win points with a broader set of folks that don’t care about politics particularly but want to get behind this anomalous idea of change.

If she doesn’t win the nomination, perhaps she can still take a step up the ladder into the VP slot. VP is quickly becoming a critical position in our government thanks to Presidents Clinton and Bush the Sequel. Although Hillary Clinton would likely be too old to run after an 8 year Obama presidency (68), if she did, she’d be the institutional choice much like she was in this cycle.* But she may also think there’s a good chance she won’t have to wait that long.

Few in the mainstream media have delved into this idea so far but isn’t there a decent chance Obama will be assassinated? The threat level he’s been under as a candidate has been unprecedented and there’s every reason to believe he’ll be increasingly targeted as he gets close to the Oval Office. Perhaps it’s because the media conceives of itself as a racism free community (let’s pretend that’s true) that it doesn’t seem capable of acknowledging openly that America is still a country filled with devoted racists. Would it really be shocking to discover an underground community raising money for a Barack Bounty? Abhorrent yes, shocking no.

If he’s assassinated at some point before the general election, Clinton becomes a shoe-in as the Obama surrogate. Clinton would cast the election as an opportunity to rail against political violence. Only the hardest of the hardcore Hillary Haters would fight against that candidacy.

If Obama is killed while President, the succession would be natural and readily accepted. Either way, Clinton achieves her ultimate goal and gains more sympathy and support than ever before in her political life.

Please understand that I am not at all suggesting the Clintons know about some specific plans to kill Obama. There’s no element of conspiracy theory in this post. But please understand, in the nearly 40 years since King and Kennedy were murdered lots of things in America have changed. Not all the people have. There’s nothing for Hillary Clinton to lose by being on a national ticket with Obama and there are lots of ways that this Dream Ticket may come to provide her with exactly what she wants. Even if some of the possibilities of getting it are distressing.

Hillary Clinton has positioned herself for this Presidential election for the last 16 years. In this time, she created the contemporary template for female political leadership and expected to receive the ultimate reward. That may still happen but even if it does, Obama has clearly short circuited her ascension. Clinton seemed to presage a radical new shift in American politics but in reality it’s Obama whose broadly perceived as the history maker. That perception is enhanced through the campaigns they’re running and the way he’s forced the issue of change into the forefront. Yes, it’s true, the only First Lady in our history to become a Senator and Presidential candidate is in real danger of becoming an historic footnote.

IF Obama wins the nomination—

She’s in the process of being skipped over and potentially in a permanent sense. If Obama wins the general election and is anything other than a massive failure, Clinton is done with Presidential politics. That must be incredibly hard for her to accept.

Perhaps this is why Clinton seems to be willing to help give McCain so much ammunition for the fall. Some of the criticisms she’s leveling at Obama seem unnecessary and unhelpful if her ultimate aim is to make certain a Democrat wins the White House. A friend forwarded me this post from James Fallows and it raises some interesting ideas.

Would the Clinton team ever admit they’d prefer McCain to win the Presidency over Obama? No chance of that. But perhaps the reality is different.

However, if Obama wins the nomination but loses the general election, Clinton still wins. In 2012 she’ll be THE important Democratic candidate. Obama won’t run again, Edwards is done, Gore will no longer be interested and none of the potential upstarts will want to be the next person to cost Clinton the Presidency. If McCain wins this year, Clinton will still have a great opportunity to challenge him or a new Republican nominee. She’ll be an even more accomplished Senator and the clear next Democratic choice. Democrats still regret the failure of their last ascendancy candidate, Al Gore, to have their full support. The cries for Gore to run again were nearly deafening last year and Clinton would receive the same treatment next time around if Obama falters in November.