While browsing the Times' politics page (my standard m.o. of avoiding work) I noticed a blurb mentioning that a former aide to Clinton assistant Patty Solis Doyle (making him...the aide to the aide?) has started a website, voteboth.org. I'm surprised such a unifying and compromising move didn't come from Obama, everyone's favorite Democratic barrier-transcender, but either way, this is an incredible move of naiveté. To expect that we can turn this incredibly long primary fight into the "dream team" ticket (or that Clinton and Obama are the dream team ticket) misses several important factors.

Here's a brief rundown of some reasons why we will not see a Clinton/Obama/Obama/Clinton ticket this August:

1. Wounds don't heal that fast. The campaign that was originally so vaunted for staying so positive is quickly turning negative. There's no way around it. If Clinton and Obama both insist on staying in, they're going to learn (as I think they are now) that the average voter gets sick of debating health care policy nuances. The only option to keep your name out there? Attacking a guy's pastor or a woman's tax returns. And then in the fall, the two of them will just make up and no one will bring up the catfight they've been having for the past year?
   
   
2. Regional politics. A vice president is as much a strategic choice as anything. After all, except for Dick Cheney, shadowy master extraordinaire, the position has one official duty: to break ties in the Senate. Thrilling, right? Naming a VP from a state is a way of reaching out to those voters and instantly ups your chances of taking their electoral votes. Both Illinois and New York are solid Democratic states. The past two elections have all hinged on one swing state. You do the math.
   
   
3. Sharing the spotlight. Hillary Clinton's been gearing up to be president for years. So has Barack Obama. Will a woman working hard to dispel doubts about a female presidency and hungry to show that she has the necessary leadership experience easily take on the No. 2 slot? And conversely, the rock-star candidacy of Obama doesn't easily jive with a second slot. The Jesus of politics sharing the ticket with a "textbook politician" on top?
   
   
4. Resentful supporters. Hillary wins and Obama supporters get angry that she's condescending to Obama by offering him the VP slot. Obama wins and Hillary supporters are infuriated he'd suggest that she should sit back and be a second trick to him. Although Hillary could woo some Obama supporters by putting him on her ticket, and vice versa, just as many would probably be turned off.
   
   
5. We're sick of them! Come on already. After John McCain makes his pick and slathers his anointed guy's face all over the talk shows, it would be foolish not to one-up him with someone new. And Hillary and Barack have had their day – year-and-a-half, really – in the sun. This long primary season means that come August and the DNC, voters will be thirsting for some new Democrat. A second-place finisher who remains on as VP will likely be seen as overstaying his or her welcome.

Of course, take this all with a grain of salt. The Democratic convention could just roll around and deliver an Obama/Clinton ticket. But at this point it seems highly unlikely.