After she won the Puerto Rico Democratic primary on Sunday, Sen. Hillary Clinton had faint hope, but Tuesday that faint hope disappeared as she lost in Montana.  Though she did actually beat Sen. Barack Obama in South Dakota, it wasn’t enough.  She was bleeding superdelegates by that point, and Sen. Obama had gained enough delegates with pledged and superdelegates to guarantee him the Democratic nomination for President.

Wednesday, news broke that Sen. Clinton would announce on Saturday that she was suspending her campaign and endorsing Sen. Obama.  Now, speculation can begin about what role she will play in his campaign.  Did the campaign drive a wedge between them personally big enough to keep her from a high-level position, like Vice Presidential nominee?  Does she want to be Vice President, or would she rather wait four or eight years to try to be nominated again.  Vice Presidents are almost the nominee of their party after the Presidents they serve finish their terms (after being reelected), but they rarely win the election.  President George H.W. Bush (the current President’s father) was the last sitting Vice President to be elected President (President Gerald Ford was not elected), and the last one before that was President Martin Van Buren in 1836.  So, she may choose not to be Vice President.

Regardless of whether Sen. Obama chooses Sen. Clinton as his running mate, he has a lot of obstacles to overcome in order to win the election over Sen. John McCain.  The obstacles of history are really the least of his worries.  The fact that he is black is probably not that much of an issue.  His main problem is the long fight for the nomination.  While Senators Clinton and Obama have been bickering, Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee has been able to campaign at a leisurely pace, choosing his spots based on his strengths and not having to attack his opponent or defend his positions against attack.  He could simply talk about whatever he wanted to talk about based on where he was and who he was talking to at the time.

Who will win?  Stay tuned.