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Does the Palin pick make it more or less in Hillary's interest for McCain to win?

A fascinating conundrum.

Hillary ostensibly supports Obama, but presumably she still wants to be President. So we might think she secretly wants McCain to win, so she can run in 2012. She'll get to start running immediately upon Obama's loss and will instantly spring back to into place as the most important Democrat, with 4 more years of being in the spotlight as the presidential frontrunner, the glamorous life she's been accustomed to. If Obama wins, she will probably have to wait until 2016, and she'll be older than McCain is now, i.e., really old. [CORRECTION: She'll only be 69, i.e., rather old.]

How does Palin change anything?

[I]f McCain wins, Palin is vice president and at least gets a very good shot at becoming the heir apparent to Republican nomination for the presidency. This would take Hillary's issue -- her firstness -- away from her, and Hillary would become a lot more like just another Democratic pol.

But if Obama wins, he's first-y too, and firstiness will lose pizzazz.

And many liberal women and feminists will be horrified at the idea that the first woman President would be an anti-choice conservative, so if McCain wins and Palin moves forward as the next Republican nominee, support for Hillary could galvanize.

ADDED: I just reread "She'll get to start running immediately upon Obama's loss and will instantly spring back to into place as the most important Democrat, with 4 more years of being in the spotlight as the presidential frontrunner, the glamorous life she's been accustomed to" and felt a surge of support for Obama!

Full post as published by Althouse on August 30, 2008 (boomark / email).