"So it's President Obama, hunh?" my wife asked me after we learned that the Senator from Illinois more than doubled the vote total of the Illinois-born Senator from New York in the South Carolina primary.

I gave the only answer that seemed correct: "Yeah."

I live in Takoma Park, Md., a small city attached to the northeast edge of Washington, D.C. It has nicknames such as "The People's Republic of Takoma" or "The Berkeley of the East." There are plenty of other slogans (lefties without slogans are like conservatives without values), but you get the point. Folks here tend to be not only on the left side of things, but passionately so.

As a stay-at-home dad, most of the people I run into on a regular basis are moms--stay-at-home or otherwise. A large chunk of the moms I know are passionate Hillary Clinton fans. They almost foam at the mouth when you mention Barack Obama. The notion that such an inexperienced upstart might knock off the first legitimate female contender for the White House tends to turn them speechless, often with flapping arms. These women are true believers, and true believers make for poor conversationalists. Which is too bad. Because I like political bullshitting better than almost anyone.

I like Hillary Clinton. A lot. I first saw her speak when she was campaigning for Bill in Wichita, Kan., back in 1992. I thought she was great, and I still do. I'd vote for her in a heartbeat if she was the Democratic nominee. But I don't think she has much of a chance to win the nomination. She is the candidate of the past, and Obama is the future. And while that's exactly what Obama's campaign keeps saying, it also happens to be true. And that's why he's going to win.

As for the general election, John McCain would be a formidable opponent. He's generally liked by most folks, and he has a penchant for irascibility that can be charming. But he's also gung ho for the war, and he has a penchant for irascibility that tends to piss people off.

Any other Republican would be ground into the turf by either Obama or Clinton. Can you imagine Mitt Romney...of course not. Rudy G? Is he still running? The Huck? No luck. Ron Paul? Paging Dennis Kucinich.

Strangely enough, the election might well be over in a couple weeks. If Obama pounds Clinton in the 22 Super Tuesday primaries on February 5, he's the nominee. I don't expect him to sweep, but I think he'll do very well. And then it's on to November, which is likely to be very, very good for Democrats. Dems in the House and Senate have outraised Republicans by huge margins, which is very bad news for people wearing elephant lapel pins.

So who's the veep? As I see it, the likely choices are Joe Biden, Kathleen Sebelius and Janet Napolitano. Biden you know, I'm sure. He'd be the obvious choice if Obama decides he needs to beef up his "experience."

But I hope Obama goes farther afield. Sebelius is the Kansas governor, and Napolitano is Arizona's governor. Both are pragmatic, tough politicians who have been elected and re-elected in states that tend to elect Republicans. And I don't think the fact that they are women would hurt the ticket. There are some folks who don't vote for black candidates (and not all of them are gringos), and there are some folks who don't vote for women (and not all of them have testicles). They simply don't matter, as such folks generally don't vote Democratic.

As for the cabinet, I think sending Bill Clinton to the U.N. would be a smashing idea. He's already got an office just up the river, and he's pretty popular with the rest of the world. John Edwards would make a fine Secretary of Labor. Hillary? She ought to stay in the Senate and continue to serve the people of New York. She's done a good job.

I toyed with the idea of Bill Richardson as Secretary of State, and while he has the experience and intellect to do the job, he also has a habit of saying stupid things at the wrong times. So I dunno. Joe Biden would be a fine choice (again with the experience thing), and there are many others.

As for some fun choices, Melinda Gates could be an interesting Secretary of Education. She and her husband (Bill) have been trying out a lot of interesting ideas through their foundation. Some of them are a little crazy, but trying out new ideas is always a good idea.

Warren Buffett would never consent to being Treasury Secretary, but if there's anyone out there who has the experience to do the job, it would be him. And if Obama wants a Republican in the house (which is likely, I think), he could do a lot worse than the Governator as head of Homeland Security. It sounds like a bad joke, I know, but Arnold Schwarzenegger has worked awfully hard to accomplish a lot of things in California, and he's been successful by listening to lots of smart people and regrouping after what would have been catastrophic setbacks for most politicians. With the myriad constituencies under its umbrella, this job needs an able and flexible pol more than a rigorous administrator. Obama could do a lot worse than the Arnold.

I dunno. It's silly speculation, and I could be way off in my analysis of the situation on the ground. Maybe Hillary Clinton will stomp Obama into the dust on Super Duper Tuesday. Maybe Rudy G will score 80 percent of the Florida vote this week and roll to the nomination.

Maybe. But until my hopes and dreams are dashed, I prefer to bask in the possibilities.

Jon Worley would like to offer his services as Secretary of Obscure Music in an Obama administration.