Thoughts on a Vice President for Obama

I dislike Hillary Clinton. I am happy that she has, essentially, lost the Democratic Presidential primary. But as bad a Presidential candidate as she would have been, and as bad a President as she would have been, I think she'll be an amazing Vice-President.

Here's why:

The main job of the Vice-President is to attack the Presidential candidate of the other party during the campaign. This is why Edwards was a terrible Vice-Presidential candidate, and, I believe, it's why Kerry lost. Clinton has shown that she can perform this function well.

Another important function of the Vice-President is to be a lightening rod to draw criticism that might otherwise land on his or her running-mate. Dick Cheney performs this function extremely well. Clinton will be even better.

Finally, people must believe that the Vice-President is reasonably qualified to be President if necessary. No one can doubt this about Clinton.

And, of course, it would be a great way to bring Clinton supporters on board with Obama's campaign. A large percentage of Clinton supporters say that they will not vote for Obama over McCain. Many of these people are, undoubtedly, just trying to game the survey, but some of them are surely sincere. But they will change their tune when Clinton joins the ticket. When they do, it will push Obama's lead into double digits.