Given the excellent analysis above that she can not get enough pledged delegates to win; and, an emerging consensus that the superdelegates would neither undo the primary voting winners nor break for her at the 60%+ rate necessary to override the pledged delegates one has to ask, is she building a coalition or base so that can not be overlooked in the VP selection?
the newspapers report she brought up the "dream ticket" recently.
- clinton ambition may argue against this thought, but 8 years of hilliary as vp, and then another 8 as president would be an unmatched political legacy. certainly she wants to be president, but a policy wonk such as herself having access to power for a potential 16 years would be enticing.
- barack would be a fool to add her to the ticket - given her strong negatives and ability to mobilize the republicans. but she can change that equation by securing devoted blocks for the party - higher female participation in the election, strong latino support, working class whites. she is really focussed on these demographics. if she is the only vp choice who can bring them into the fold, she has some negotiating power.
- she mentioned the "dream ticket" scenario recently.
- perhaps she sees the future as one of two outcomes: a)win the nomination; or b)be selected as VP. if there's no downside to continuing - meaning that she could live with either outcome and only looks stronger by continuing (and only looks like she failed by dropping)- she has every reason to build a base to negotiate from.
at this point, given the loyalty she's demanding from her folks, the end will need to be gracious for the coalition to hold together. she's definitely demanding not to be kicked to the curb.