Do we have his ear?

The first thing I saw when I logged on tonight was a Yahoo! News headline:  Obama open to Clinton as running mate.

Now, when you read the article, you'll see that's not exactly what he said.  

"There's no doubt that she's qualified to be vice president, there's no doubt she's qualified to be president," Obama told NBC News.

In a CNN interview, he said he had not wrapped up the Democratic presidential nomination, but when he does, he will start going through the process of selecting a running mate.

"She is tireless, she is smart. She is capable. And so obviously she'd be on anybody's short list to be a potential vice presidential candidate," said Obama, who inched closer to winning the nomination by routing Clinton in North Carolina and almost defeating her in Indiana on Tuesday.

This is diary is probably irrational.  My gut tells me he wouldn't want to do it, but I realize that some in the party might try to arm-twist him into it.  I'm therefore deathly afraid of it.  Part of the reason I support Obama is because, in my eyes, he offers a clean break from what I've hated about modern progressive politics.  And--flame me if you wish--Hillary Clinton is part of what I hate about modern progressive politics.  She's a politician who talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk.  She's an elitist panderer.  She may have (had?) a core set of values buried somewhere...but she too often has traveled the path of least resistance.  The path of political expedience.

In my opinion, she would only drag down an Obama ticket.  At the very least, I'm afraid that she would constantly compete with him for the spotlight.  At worst, I'm afraid that some of the Clintons' past baggage would catch back up with them.  Plus, people have joked about how they wouldn't want to see Bill Clinton in the White House with nothing to do (if Hillary was President)...can you imagine him with LESS than nothing to do?

The Clintons have already been in the White House.  They did some good, they did a lot of mediocre, they did some bad, and they did some unforgivable damage to the Presidency and to the Democratic Party.  Yes, they're clever and charismatic...but also ruthless and irresponsible.  

We've lived through a Clinton Era, one filled with successive distractions and embarrassments.  And we've lived through an almost unimaginable nightmare since then.  This country needs to heal.  It needs to heal from the inside before it can reclaim its former standing in the world.  We need a sense of hope and an honorable, inspiring Head of State to look up to.  And at the right hand of this Head of State, we need someone just as honorable and inspiring.  

Hillary Clinton is not that running mate.  

So what do we do now?  Many of us have contributed physically and financially and to Obama's campaign.  Do we have his ear on the Vice-President issue?  Besides sending emails that he (himself) may never see, what are some constructive things we can do to make our concerns known?

Some sort of formal petition?  Appeal to MoveOn.org?  

Suggestions?