I don’t think Hillary would take second place but you can never be 1000% certain about these things. Would she still be seen as presidential material at age 69 in 2016? I also can’t imagine Hillary picking Obama as he would be seen as overshadowing her. A more likely choice for her would be Gov Richardson.
As far as third parties go I think we are more likely to see an independent run by the left wing Mayor Bloomberg than by McCain.
Yeah, you’re probably right about Bloomberg being more likely than McCain. But ever since the dems turning on Lieberman in 06, I’ve had the gut feeling that he is going to play a big role in the final outcome of the election. I also think McCain is feeling betrayed more and more by his party. I’ve thought about them forming a third-party ticket since last spring but really thought it very unlikely. Then the endorsement happened and I googled the two names together and found that there’s actually been alot of speculation about the idea for some time. So who knows? Maybe there’s something to it.