Adam Nagourney's article today in the New York Times looks at the fading prospect of an Obama-Clinton ticket, which is certainly where the conventional wisdom seems to be right now. For evidence, Nagourney points to two developments:

When Mr. Obama appeared Sunday on "Meet the Press" on NBC he offered a description of the kind of person he was looking for, hinting that it would not be someone who was identified strongly with Washington, a choice that would appear to leave out Mrs. Clinton. His associates said this description reflected the lack of serious thought being given to Mrs. Clinton for the post.

The feeling goes both ways. Mrs. Clinton has told associates in recent days that she thinks there is little chance Mr. Obama will pick her and that she views the public pronouncements by some of Mr. Obama's aides that she is under review as nothing more than a courtesy.

She has not been asked to provide written documentation to the committee vetting the background of candidates for Mr. Obama. Although Mrs. Clinton probably needs less flyspecking than almost anyone else in the field -- considering how long she has been in public life and how intensively her past has been examined -- the silence from that corner is being taken by Mrs. Clinton's advisers as evidence of where she stands on Mr. Obama's vice presidential list.

So we have Obama's "Meet the Press" appearance, which I think is being blown wildly out of proportion, and the campaign's seemingly unenthusiastic vetting of Clinton ("nothing more than a courtesy").

I'm not saying the CW on Clinton is wrong here. I just think the CW is using pretty thin reeds to make its case. Would it be inconceivable for the campaign to downplay Clinton, then -- bam! -- announce her as a running mate? Or would that be using the same thin reeds to make the opposite conclusion? Perhaps this is why the veepstakes is so fun.

Nagourney notes something else we should consider:

But the Obama camp has done little in public to prepare Clinton supporters for the increasing likelihood that she will not be on the ticket. There is no shortage of speculation among Mrs. Clinton's supporters that she is very much in the running as Mr. Obama begins closing in on a decision.

Could this backlash be serious enough to hurt the campaign? Perhaps -- at least on the margins it could send a few Clinton backers over to the McCain camp.