Yep, Obama and Hillary aides meet behind scenes

Even though Hillary Clinton maintains a brave front of fighting for the Democratic presidential nomination, vowing to stay in the fight until after the June 3 primaries, it's likely that after tomorrow's primaries in Oregon and Kentucky, Obama will have the delegates he needs to win the nomination.

Sure enough, over the weekend, Clinton's deposed former campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, met with her old Chicago ward heeling pal from yesteryear, who just happens to be Obama's campaign manager. Doyle is a bosom buddy of Clinton's, and doubtlessly would not have had the meeting without her approval.

Doyle, of course, downplayed the meeting, saying only that she is a loyal Democrat and will back the nominee of her party. But the deals are already being cut to bring peace to the Denver convention. But by meeting behind the scenes now, Clinton may not be able to get the vice presidential nomination, but probably has the clout to get some of her campaign debts paid back to herself, as she has put as much as $12 million in the kitty to keep her campaign afloat. Obama, of course, is awash in cash, with bright prospects for raising millions more with his efficient online money machine.

That's probably the best that Clinton can hope for. In this era of change, Obama badly needs a traditional white male as his running mate. It's radical enough for America to accept a half-black president, probably out of the question for them to accept a half-black president and female vice president on the same ticket.

And in the back of his mind, Obama can't help but think what it would be like with Hillary as vice president. If they were able to speak, he could ask Ron Brown or Vince Foster about that.