I like Obama, so I'm not posting this diary to stir up trouble but it might as well be me posting it before some "PUMA" folks start going nuts.  Ottobvs has been speculating as to how much HRC would be leading McCain if HRC were the nominee; well, Rasmussen provided some clues in his most recent poll of three matchups: HRC v. McCain, Gore v. McCain, and Obama v. Bush

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_c ontent/politics/election_20082/2008_pres idential_election/obama_leads_bush_by_tw enty_but_clinton_does_better_against_mcc ain

Obama leads Bush hypothetically 54-34 in this poll.  We should have amended the Constitution to allow this guy to run for his third term.

Obama also leads the varmint-hunting tool Mitt Romney 49-41 and the Huckster 50-39.

HRC leads McCain hypothetically 50-42 while Gore leads McCain 50-43.  On average, Obama has led McCain 49-44 since he claimed the nomination before a recent "tightening" of the race according to Rasmussen. Hopefully, Obama will revert back to a five-point lead in Rasmussen and that this "tightening" was just statistical noise for a week.

Rasmussen essentially supports my belief that HRC would be performing better than Obama against McCain by around three points; it should be noted that she is not leading McCain by the 15 points that some have speculated she would be leading him by at this time.  In the end, Obama will defeat McCain by six points in my opinion (the margin of victory for Big Daddy against Bush I) while HRC would have defeated McCain by nine points (the margin of victory for Big Daddy over Dole).

I hope Rasmussen does more nonsense polling and tests my theory that Obama would be performing better than HRC against Huckabee; they'd both probably be defeating Romney by the same margin.

Have at it guys and gals.

From HRC's vantage point, VP would in reality be a very stifling and confining role for her. She is far too good for her talents to be wasted on that. This will not be a Cheney II role for heavens sake.It will be more like Bush 1 was to Reagan

From Obama's standpoint, he would be Very unwise to offer it to her, for several already well documented  reasons, even in the unlikely event that Michelle would buy in to the idea (and Michelle will be  the 'decider'here-partic if HRC is the suggested choice). Quite apart from other reasons, Obama needs to be seen as his own person and not in HRC's daily shadow. In a word-she's too strong.

He will not pick another woman-too risky that HRC's entourage will feel enraged--  he will instead pick a caucasian white man around his own age category...not  a materially older type like Clark. Edwards might have been safe but that's out of the question now.

Hillary Rodham Clinton just sent the following letter out to all of her supporters:

I wanted you to be one of the first to know: on Saturday, I will hold an event in Washington D.C. to thank everyone who has supported my campaign. Over the course of the last 16 months, I have been privileged and touched to witness the incredible dedication and sacrifice of so many people working for our campaign. Every minute you put into helping us win, every dollar you gave to keep up the fight meant more to me than I can ever possibly tell you.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

According to Al Giordano of the The Field:

''The Field can now confirm, based on multiple sources, something that both campaigns publicly deny: that Senator Clinton has directly told Senator Obama that she wants to be his vice presidential nominee, and that Senator Obama politely but straightforwardly and irrevocably said "no." Obama is going to pick his own running mate based on his own criteria and vetting process.''

Time magazine's Karen Tumulty reports:

''What will Clinton's terms of surrender turn out to be? Her husband, for one, seems to have a pretty clear idea what he thinks she should get as a consolation prize. In Bill Clinton's view, she has earned nothing short of an offer to be Obama's running mate, according to some who are close to the former President. Bill "is pushing real hard for this to happen," says a friend.''

''And that is all that anybody needs to know to understand the childish and wounded behavior of Senator Clinton yesterday, grandstanding hypocritically to senior citizens in Florida, telling them they should consider themselves under sniper fire in Bosnia, er, Zimbabwe, aggrandizing herself as some kind of civil rights leader (MLK? or LBJ? She didn't say this time) and attempting to corner 30 members of the DNC's Rules & Bylaws Committee that will meet on May 31 to resolve the disputes over whether, and, if so, how, delegates from Michigan and Florida might be seated at the convention in August.''

More at

http://ruralvotes.com/thefield/

I think giving the course of these events. HRC campaign leaked the ''What Does Hillary Want?'' story. To keep the notion of this wholoe farcial process going.

"It is time people start asking themselves who is our stronger candidate against John McCain in the fall?  And if people will only look at that that strengthens our argument...I'm making that argument. I believe it. Obviously I would not be working as hard as I am with the conviction with the passion I feel for taking back the White House if I did not believe it. And it's especially important that we try to get people to start focusing on this..."
-Hillary Clinton, May 16, 2008 conference with bloggers hosted by Peter Daou

Clinton believes the Democratic nominee should be the candidate who has the best chance of winning the leadership of the Executive branch. And she believes she is that candidate. Yet political journalists have said she should quit despite overwhelming evidence from primaries and exit polls that Clinton is the strongest Democratic candidate: greater support from swing states, more votes (including FL and MI), stronger in one-vote-per-person voting system (similar to general election), more support from huge important groups (women, Hispanics, Reagan Democrats, seniors), etc.

The journalists' behavior is even more suspect because they have not acted this way toward another candidate. According to Eric Boehlert, never in the history of the United States have journalists converged to tell a candidate to drop out during the primary season:

Hillary Clinton said the September 11 terror attack was "an attack on America, on our values, on our power, and on who we are as a people." Because Clinton identified herself as an American, her natural response was sympathy for those who lost their lives and to pray for them.  Even when six years passed she said on the anniversary of 9/11, "Today is a solemn occasion to keep in our prayers the men and women who lost their lives..."

I know someone who was in the Twin Towers when the first plane hit.  She is a young woman working in the financial services industry.  My friend was in the lobby at ground level of 2 WTC when the first plane hit 1 WTC at 8:46 a.m.  She went outside and saw the exploding building next door and the chaos.  She walked away from the towers till she reached a phone and called for help. My friend is lucky to have survived.  Unfortunately, thousands of people died that day. And the victims will be remembered for a long time.

Sen. Obama's acceptance of Jack Johnson's support and even calling it helpful has made the case for Sen. Clinton to take her case to the Democratic Convention in Denver. Earlier in the process, the Obama campaign was squealing so loudly about Ickes trying to get pledged delegate to switch that one would think it was the end of the world. His win at all cost mentality has now begun to haunt him.

He has gone back to wearing a poll tested flag pin, with not one, but two flags. He went back on his IL vote for the gas tax so he could call Hillary a panderer. He stated that all states matter, but he is not planning an election night speech tonight to that the people in West Virginia who voted for him. While I do understand the strategy, it smacks of politics as usual. Where is the new politics he promised?

Sen. Clinton is not as far behind as Kennedy was when he went to the convention. She and Sen. Obama are extremely close. They both need superdelegates to arrive at the magic number. Plus ther is nothing in the rules from taking the fight all the way to the convention. Obama opened the door to a challenge which I hope she accepts.

Let them leave it all on the floor in Denver.