Obama-Clinton Ticket Draws More Interest

Senior Democratic strategists, many of whom had previously panned talk of a Clinton-Obama or Obama-Clinton ticket, are now talking up the idea of a ticket headed by Barack Obama with Hillary Clinton as his running mate.

"The campaign has created a lot of hurts, but it might be the only way she can get to the top job," said a party strategist with ties to the Clintons.

"It would give her a chance to deal with all her negatives, but she'd have to prove herself in the job," said the strategist. Another suggested that the twinning is unlikely but might be the best way to rally the party against John McCain, the likely Republican nominee. "If it happened--if, if--they might be able to build on the change message by saying this is the biggest change in politics ever."

What's more, he said, by having Clinton as vice president, it would mean that former President Bill Clinton wouldn't have as large an office in the White House as he would as first husband, meaning his actions would win less attention by the media. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have said in the past that women face a glass ceiling in politics and that grabbing the vice presidency is the best way to break through.

Republican officials, told of the Obama-Clinton buzz, said that it would be an easy ticket to beat because it would include two very liberal candidates who've proposed massive new spending programs and who lack McCain's experience.

By Paul Bedard