In an article posted to the magazine's Web site Thursday, Time's Karen Tumulty asks what Hillary Clinton will want in concessions when she drops out of the race. (Such deals aren't uncommon -- the Democratic Party's delegate allocation system, for example, is based upon a framework agreed to in negotiations between emissaries for eventual nominee Michael Dukakis and the Rev. Jesse Jackson that occurred before the 1988 convention.)
Bill Clinton, Tumulty reports, "seems to have a pretty clear idea what he thinks she should get as a consolation prize. In Bill Clinton's view, she has earned nothing short of an offer to be Obama's running mate, according to some who are close to the former President. Bill 'is pushing real hard for this to happen,' says a friend." Tumulty also says, though, that it's unclear what the candidate herself wants. She quotes an unnamed top Clinton strategist as saying, "It's as plain as the nose on your face that this whole thing has shifted to a different mode. But I don't know what she wants. I don't know what she's thinking."
Separately, Barack Obama's team appears to be gearing up the operation that will be in charge of vetting potential running mates for him. Jim Johnson, the former CEO of Fannie Mae, will reportedly be in charge of the process -- he did the same thing for both John Kerry and Walter Mondale. The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder says that Obama "staffers are putting together a team to assist the search committee, and a handful of Democrats connected with the campaign will start to pull together dossiers ... on a large number of potential picks ... By June 4, the day after Democrats finish voting, the campaign hopes to have a full team in place."
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