Big

I am extremely pleased that Barack Obama finally clinched the Democratic nomination. During the evening commute people were reading about it from well-creased morning editions, as if they still couldn't believe our state senator won the nomination. And I'm relieved that Clinton seems poised to end her candidacy, just when it looked like her supporters were prepared to scream "Denver! Denver! Denver!" for the rest of the summer.

As Obama takes a detour through NASCAR country before huddling up with his advisors, "Will she marry Big?" has been replaced as question of the moment by "Will Big ask her to be the VP?" Clinton's churlish "I'm the one you want!" speech on Tuesday, by common consensus, didn't help her chances. She would bring millions of reluctant Bubbas to the ticket and chase away millions of people turned off by her beady-eyed self-righteousness. And she comes with the original Big, her husband, who draws his life force from the handshake lines--and becomes unhinged when he's denied access to them for long.

My guess is that Obama appointed Caroline Kennedy appointment to the Vice Presidential search committee to lay the groundwork for a John F. Kennedy-Lyndon Johnson type of reconciliation, meaning Hilary will walk down the aisle in August. But she will be elbowed aside by Bill, who will work hard to ingratiate himself with Barack. For his part, Barack will let him tag along on a few passes down the handshake lines.