It is Clinton’s voice, not Biden’s, that we hear when the administration speaks out on hot spots such as Syria, Libya and Somalia. That clearly demonstrates how much trust and confidence the president has in allowing her to articulate administration policy on touchy and volatile foreign policy issues he would rather not be front-and-center on himself.

In contrast, Biden flopped on the one high-profile task Obama gave him this year — negotiate a budget-deficit deal with Democrats and Republicans in Congress. The Biden-led talks came to an abrupt end in June when Republicans walked out.

All this is not lost on the public. The Gallup Poll puts Clinton’s favorability with the American people at 66 percent. The last Gallup measure for Biden put him at 42 percent.

Moreover, with the growing possibility that a woman — Rep. Michele Bachmann — could be on the Republican ticket either in the first or second slot (more likely the latter), Clinton would provide a formidable counter that an all-male ticket would not.