President Obama, Vice President Clinton, and third wheel Bill...

It could be seen as a two for one deal, choose Hillary as your VP and gain Bill for free! Hardly seems the kind of deal anyone looking to be the President of the United States would want. As they say, nothing is free.

There is no way that Barack could ever compete with a vice president who would never respect him, accept his direction, or relinquish her agenda. It would be a disaster from the top and the unpredictable Bill would only cause more alarm. But can Obama clinch the win against McCain without the Clinton machine? Absolutely.

There is a potential deal breaker before the deal even begins. The Clinton's would have to release all financial records beginning with Bill's big donors to his presidential library. He has thus far refused to release those records and the complications that they could pose for an Obama White House. Those include dealings with the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. That is more baggage than the Obama camp can afford to carry and they would probably, and rightly so, require a full disclosure, before naming Hillary as a VP candidate. It is highly unlikely that Bill would ever agree to that.

Another problem is that the Clinton's have been leaders in the Democratic Party and the Washington scene for more than 16 years. They are deeply meshed in the politics of the city and that completely undermines the Obama message of change and new blood into Washington.

Hillary does have the potential to bring some of her supports who have been reluctant to support Obama, but many believe that her public support for Obama will bring just as much support as a place on the ticket and after a cooling off period, those voters that said they would vote for McCain rather than Obama, will realize that McCain and his policies will only bring them more of the same and they will ultimately decide to remain loyal to the democrats.

It will be a rough next few months for Obama regardless, but I believe that the Clinton's will cause more of a headache and be more of a hindrance than help for his campaign. The democratic party is fragile right now with a lot of emotion, so Obama will have to tread lightly with the next few moves that he makes. He will have to move carefully, he needs the Clinton's, but not as running mates.