Jeff Zeleny reports:

"I think the Clinton camp's basic attitude was that the whole calendar was set up to deliver the knockout blow on Feb. 5," Mr. Obama said. "And not only did we play them to a draw, we won more delegates and we won more states. What that means is that we are in a fierce competition and we've got many more rounds to fight."

That seems like a pretty fair analysis to me. It's also why as much as the Democrats would love to see these two on the same ticket, it probably ain't going to happen.

It's pretty easy to dismiss the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket. Not only is it impossible to see Clinton accepting the role of second fiddle, it goes against the entire rationale of Obama's campaign to put Clinton on the ticket.

Along those same lines, it doesn't seem like it would behoove Obama to tie himself to the Clinton brand by joining her on the ticket - not to mention that with Bill around Obama would be more like #3 than #2. If Clinton goes on to lose, he's the immediate front runner for 2012. If she manages to win in November, he'd have to wait longer, of course. But he's young enough so that's a not a problem, and he could use the time to strengthen his resume - perhaps even choosing to come home and taking the reins from Rod Blagojevich as Governor of Illinois in 2010, which he could do in a New York minute.

Clinton would probably not want to have Obama on the ticket for fear that he would constantly upstage her. But because he's put up such a strong showing and because he's so well liked among Democrats, Clinton will probably come under intense pressure to make him part of an unstoppable "dream ticket" in November. If she refuses, she could face yet more backlash from party activists.

And if you think about it, Clinton should probably offer the slot to Obama in a ploy of reverse psychology, hoping that he decides along the lines listed above that it's not in his best interest. That way, the base's disappointment over the failure of a "dream ticket" to materialize will be directed at him, not her.