Now that Democrat Hillary Clinton?s presidential hopes appear to be fading, some Democrats are talking about the possibility of Barack Obama taking Clinton on as his vice presidential running mate.

?It?s something that this party is going to have to think very seriously about in the next few weeks,? Harold Ford, a former US congressman who is chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, told MSNBC after Obama easily won in North Carolina and ran surprisingly strong in Indiana.

Intriguing idea

There had been talk of a reverse ticket a couple of months ago. Clinton had generated speculation about Obama being her vice presidential running mate after she won Texas and Ohio, saying, ?Well, that may, you know, be where this is headed.?

For some Democrats, the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket is intriguing. They say Obama could go a long way toward patching up differences in the party by picking his battle-hardened opponent to serve as his running mate for the campaign against Republican John McCain in the November election.

According to a CBS News/ New York Times poll released last week, a majority of both Obama and Clinton voters say they would favor a so-called ?Dream Ticket? involving both candidates.

?People are stopping to ask themselves, why just nominate someone who has 51 percent of the vote, when we can nominate a ticket that has 100 percent of the vote?? said Sam Arora, spokesman for Vote Both, a group trying to foster a joint ticket between the two top Democrats.

Clinton?s candidacy doomed

Some Democratic insiders are however skeptical. A Democratic strategist who supports Clinton, and who believes her candidacy is now doomed, doubted it would make sense for either side for her to be Obama?s running mate.

?I think if Clinton were the nominee she?d have no one else to pick but Obama,? the strategist said. ?But from Obama?s perspective, his argument is about change, I think he?d be better off picking someone else.?

From Clinton?s perspective, the Democrat added, ?I don?t know for her political future if it?s all that useful to be vice president. I think she can have an enormous influence in the Senate over a long period of time.?