Apparently, Hillary Clinton has put out the word that she wants to run as Barack Obama's vice-presidential running mate.  Unless the news reports are completely off base, she is now trying to pressure Senator Obama into selecting her for that position.  This presents an interesting test for Senator Obama. 

Remember how several of Obama's presidential rivals, including Clinton and McCain, sharply criticized Obama for saying that he would be willing (or at least would not rule out the possibility) of meeting with some of the world's Bad Guys without pre-conditions?  President Bush (speaking of Bad Guys), speaking at the Israeli parliament, compared the allegedly naïve Senator Obama with Neville Chamberlain appeasing Hitler in 1938-39.  Clinton and McCain more generally accused Obama of giving away the store, as if merely meeting with (for example) the Castro brothers amounts to selling out America's vital interests.  I believe that Senator Obama effectively answered those charges regarding a hypothetical situation. 

Now, however, Senator Clinton has provided a live test for would-be President Obama.  Let's see how he handles it.  She is pressuring him to make her his running mate.  She got 18 million primary votes, many of them from people representing demographic groups that Senator Obama has not yet effectively connected with.  To win the general election, he will need the support of most of the people who had backed Clinton, which effectively means that he will need Clinton's active support.  In order to get that support, will he give into the pressure being applied to put Hillary Clinton on the ticket? 

I have been observing American presidential campaigns for a long time, and I cannot recall any example, nor am I aware of an example for earlier history, where a defeated candidate for a party's nomination actively sought the vice-presidential nomination.  I only know of three cases in recent history (Kennedy-Johnson in 1960, Reagan-Bush in 1980 and Kerry-Edwards in 2004) where the nominee selected his main intra-party rival as a running mate, and in all of those cases, the initiative came from the presidential nominee.

It makes absolutely no sense for Obama to offer that spot to Clinton.  Over the past five months, Clinton has practically written McCain's talking points to use against Obama.  She has made it clear that she believes that Obama is not qualified for the job of President of the United States.  She strongly implied at one point that if he is the Democratic nominee, her supporters should vote for McCain.  I know that she did not explicitly say that, just as President Bush did not explicitly say that Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/1/2001 terrorist attacks, but did everything else possible to leave that impression.  It is one thing to have disagreements over policy, or to campaign on the theme: "Obama would be good, but I would be better."  Instead, Hillary Clinton suggested that Obama was unfit for the presidency. 

If Obama actually selects Clinton for VP, he will be perceived as giving into a mild form of extortion.  In a sense, it would prove his critics to have been correct.  I always thought that Obama making Clinton his running mate was a terrible idea.  The pressure being applied by the Clinton people to do exactly that makes a bad idea even worse.