Pondering the Biden Clinton Shuffle

There's some low-level murmuring going on that Barack Obama may drop Joe Biden like a hot potato and choose Hillary Clinton as a replacement VP nominee.

While I heard a little bit of this kind of amused speculation this weekend at the Values Voter Summit, none of it seemed too serious or concerned.

I think a lot of it was fueled by one of the greatest lines in the Charlie Gibson interview of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin when he asked Palin if Obama should have picked Clinton: "I think he's regretting not picking her now."

The fact that none of the discussion I was exposed to seemed greatly concerned is not to say that Obama wouldn't do it if he thought it would boost his chances.

However, while such a move might pay off with some of the Hillary supporters who felt slighted after the Biden pick, such a move could also backfire. Many people--especially undecided voters and others in the middle--might see it as opportunistic and blatantly pandering to feminists. And they might be repulsed by that.

Also, Hillary Clinton has always had very high negative numbers, even among Democrats. Instead of wind in the sails, she could just as easily bring an anchor to the U.S.S. Obama.

Dropping Biden and picking up Clinton would be a huge gamble. As someone on the opposite side, I honestly don't know which I'd rather see him do: keep Biden or get rid of him.

I do think, though, that it will be a lot more fun if he keeps the gaffe-prone Biden around. It's a regular barrel of laughs watching Biden suffer recurring bouts of "foot-in-mouth" disease.