Will Clinton be Obama’s ‘second-term masterstroke’?

Will President Obama dump Vice President Joe Biden as his running mate in the 2012 election and replace him with Hillary Clinton? Earlier this month, I wrote that it’s "not going to happen" and highlighted some quotes from Clinton in which she has made it clear she wants to escape the nonstop 24-7 nature of government work and retreat to private life.

But inside the Beltway, chatter about running mate Clinton continues away. On Aug. 22, the Washington Post‘s David Ignatius wrote that a "Vice President Hillary Rodham Clinton" would be Obama’s "second-term masterstroke." Today, a Washington Times editorial, "The Hillary Coup," discusses both the "Dump Biden" movement and some form of "musical chairs" to keep Clinton from running against Obama in a 2012 Democratic primary. Additionally, Clinton might relish the idea of being the first female defense secretay after Robert Gates likely retires next year,  the editorial speculates. (For more about Clinton heading the Pentagon, read here.)

It just seems so far-fetched. It’s so much easier to envision Clinton doing philanthropic work to advance her signature issue — the empowerment of women and girls worldwide. 

But if this November’s congressional elections end up a total fiasco for the Democrats, strange things could happen. (And who knows what I’d then be blogging about.)