[Editor’s Note: This editorial was drafted in early June, but somehow got lost in the mix. With apologies to our readers, we’ve decided to belatedly publish it anyway.]

It used to be that Hillary Clinton was the inevitable Democratic presidential nominee.  Now, with Clinton having redefined inevitability (by losing), there is a growing sense that she is the automatic choice to be Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate.  

Well, perhaps the Clinton campaign has learned to avoid the word “inevitable.” But to learn to avoid the hubristic concept itself they might need to suffer just one more defeat.  

Clinton has run a groundbreaking campaign, earning more votes than any other primary candidate in history, save one.  She is an unquestionably qualified woman, an individual who has given her adult life up to public service, and an unmitigated campaigner. Her talents would bolster a national campaign, and her credentials would imbue any administration with experience and party unity. Her mere presence on the ticket, some might say, would give Obama a free pass to the White House. And her absence might not only sink his chances, but also cleave the Democratic Party.

Forget the contradiction that might come from his and her different campaign styles. Leave aside any concern that a country, skittish from eight years of a vice president who considered himself his own branch of government, might read weakness in an Obama ticket rounded off by a Clinton (or two). Maybe those differences would become problems, or maybe they spell the perfect tag-team approach to victory.  

We know little about these next few months. But we do know the Democratic Party is the least unified it has been in ages—seemingly split right down the middle. Some time must pass before Obama can assess who would be the best person to complete his ticket.

Even if Clinton becomes Obama’s ultimate choice for a running mate, it is a choice he cannot—must not—make hastily. His choice must be thoughtful, definitive and, yes, presidential. And we’ve had our fill of knee-jerk presidency.

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