posted on October 7, 2010, at 5:55 PM

It is a political squall in an autumn of discontent, sparked by a provocative question from David Gregory on Meet the Press. He asked Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, if he envisioned a primary challenge from Hillary Clinton to Obama's renomination in 2012.

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Then The Washington Post's uber-insider Bob Woodward weighed in on Hillary's potential ascent to vice president by way of a job swap with Joe Biden. Woodward revealed that Clinton’s former (and he hopes future) pollster Mark Penn has long contemplated the possibility. Now Penn has even tested the Obama-Clinton pairing in a survey — and made sure everyone knows about it. Other advisors scoff at the scenario, but one did tell Politico that second place on the ticket would "position her well" for first place in 2016.

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The last thing Hillary Clinton needs if she wants to be president is a national-scale repetition of the racially fraught South Carolina primary of 2008. And that is exactly what she would get, no matter how much she disclaimed it, if she opposed the first African-American president.

What then, about the second spot? A switch there could hurt Obama more than help him. It would be a confession of weakness. [snip]

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Hillary Clinton can become president and perhaps she will — in 2016.  She'll be 69, but young in appearance and full of vigor, with a depth of experience and credibility on issues ranging from war and peace to the economy and education. She will leave the State Department after Obama's first term to resume the journey toward a first term of her own. Or she could even resign in the late spring or summer of 2012 to campaign for Democrats across the country and gather chits for her own final run in 2016.

Then ironically, the now imaginary contest between Clinton and Biden could become a real choice for Democrats.  He'll be a young 73. “President Clinton” has a ring to it. But so does “President Biden” — just drop the “vice.”

Full article @ TheWeek.com

Interesting. Yes, I'd agree with Shrum.