We all know how Republicans conduct campaigns.  Not just the Rove/Bushes or Baker/Bushes - but almost any Republican.

The mindset is distinctly Manichean.

The rationale is:

   1.  Republicans are supposed to Win
   2.  Republicans are "Good for America!" 
   3.  Therefore, anything I do to win serves America.

The path is a bright line.  If it were logical, it would be inescapable.

There is nothing they won't do or say.  I am cynical, but this is fact.

Mark Schmitt, at The American Prospect, puts it this way  -  there is no cost to them for going to extremes, and no advantage to them for decorum.

This is going to be the nastiest, lowest, meanest campaign ever.

I just read the article in Salon "Obama/Kennedy vs. McCain/Goldwater" by David Talbot.

I was struck by the following quotation of John F. Kennedy describing what would happen if we took the posture which President Bush does:

... Kennedy, in a September 1963 speech before a conservative Mormon audience in Salt Lake City: "We must realize that foreign policy in the modern world does not lend itself to easy, simple black and white solutions. If we were to have diplomatic relations only with those countries whose principles we approve of, we would have relations with very few countries in a very short time ... If we were to treat foreign policy merely as a medium for delivering self-righteous sermons to supposedly inferior people, we would give up all thought of world influence or world leadership."

 
I can't imagine a more apt description of the Bush Administration than treating "foreign policy as a medium for delivering self-righteous sermons ..."  Our enemies list has grown rapidly because we've expressed disapproval of other nations principles - usually only because they differ from our stated principles.

I don't see as realistic any scenario where Senator Obama asks Ms. Clinton to be his running mate.  I, or course, could be wrong - I supported Sen. Clinton in the primaries here in Georgia (a lifetime ago!) after being forced to give up my hopes for John Edwards.  My track record, needless to say, is poor.

It seems to be a fact that Senator Obama will earn a majority of possible convention delegates from primaries, caucuses & etc.  When that line is crossed, I'll be surprised if we don't see a rush of super delegates committing to him.  All of this is predicted by pundits and insiders, and seems to fit what I see.

That leaves the question of what Senator Clinton will do next.

The opinions I've read and heard so far seem to reflect more of the orator's desires than reality.  Most seem to assume she will simply return to the Senate.  Others assume she'll run for Governor of NY.  And it seems non-supporters assume she is positioning herself for another run in 2012 - as exemplified just today by Richard Cohen in the Washington Post.  None of these sounds proper to me.

I want Senator Clinton to take up the office of Democratic Leader or the Senate.