This is a thought experiment . . . not something that I want to happen or that necessarily will happen, but something I can envision happening. Let me know what you think.
It is March 5, 2008. She awakens, still tired, considerably less buoyed and defiant than her "victory" speech conveyed last night. This morning, that victory feels hollow. It wasn't a total victory; it wasn't a clear victory. It was muddied and partial, the last gasp of a once-mighty candidacy.
The firewall did not hold. One pillar of the firewall fell completely, and the other stood, but barely.
Still, she proclaimed victory, invoking her "comeback" in the face of a media arrayed against her. "I'm still in this, and I'm in this until the end," she said to her supporters in that midwestern firewall state.
But this morning, it was looking bleaker. It was in the headlines and the Op-Eds. It was topic #1 on the morning shows. It was written on her family's faces. How much longer?
She knew the electoral math. She knew the length and breadth of her political allegiances. She understood stature and leverage, and the power of a historical candidacy.
She would stay in. But not because she would win; she knew now that she wouldn't. She would stay because it was her last best chance -- albeit a long, winding road -- to the White House.
She would "demand" the VP slot. And dammit, she had earned it, hadn't she?
The first female Vice President, serving in the administration of the first African-American President. She would distinguish herself, she had no doubt. She would pay her dues, as she had in the Senate in those early days. Then she would run on her own, again, after a successful stint as VP, and she knew it was her best (and probably only) chance of ever reaching the Oval Office.
How could he deny her? If she stayed in the race now, if she kept up the travel and the pressure, her supporters would rally. Money would keep coming in. Clearly, she had proven her ability to raise cash -- if not on par with him, then far above any previous candidate. She had a devoted and loyal base who would follow her anywhere. Together, how could they lose?
She must stay in, at least for a while, until he understood how vital she was on the ticket. Then she could bow out gracefully for the "good of the party," and sound pleased when she was announced as his VP choice.
After all, it would be on her terms.