By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Now that Democrat Hillary Clinton's presidential hopes
appear to be fading, some Democrats are talking about the possibility of Barack
Obama taking Clinton on as his vice presidential running mate.

"It's something that this party is going to have to think very seriously
about in the next few weeks," Harold Ford, a former U.S. congressman who is
chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, told MSNBC after Obama on Tuesday
won easily in North Carolina and ran surprisingly strong in Indiana.

There had been talk of a reverse ticket a couple of months ago. Clinton had
generated speculation about Obama being her vice presidential running mate after
she won Texas and Ohio, saying, "Well, that may, you know, be where this is
headed."

But Clinton's disappointing showing in Tuesday's contests has given Obama
added momentum. The Illinois senator increased his almost insurmountable lead in
pledged delegates who will help pick the nominee at the August convention.

For some Democrats, the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket is intriguing. They
say Obama could go a long way toward patching up differences in the party by
picking his battle-hardened opponent to serve as his running mate for the
campaign against Republican John McCain in the November election.

According to a CBS News/New York Times poll released last week, a majority of
both Obama and Clinton voters say they would favor a so-called "Dream Ticket"
involving both candidates.

"People are stopping to ask themselves, why just nominate someone who has 51
percent of the vote, when we can nominate a ticket that has 100 percent of the
vote?" said Sam Arora, spokesman for Vote Both, a group trying to foster a joint
ticket between the two top Democrats.

But Obama gave no sense on Wednesday that he was thinking about such a
move.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told reporters the Illinois senator now
was focusing on the remaining contests and undecided superdelegates.

"Obviously, when we secure the nomination, that's a decision Senator Obama
will need to make about who he wants to choose as his running mate but I think
it's premature to be talking about who that might be," he said.

The Clinton campaign was similarly vague.

"We have not had any conversations with the Obama campaign about such a
ticket," said Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson. "Senator Clinton has
said it is premature to discuss such a ticket. I have not heard her (express)
any interest in such a ticket."

IS IT A DREAM?

Some Democratic insiders are skeptical.

A Democratic strategist who supports Clinton, and who believes her candidacy
is now doomed, doubted it would make sense for either side for her to be Obama's
running mate.

"I think if Clinton were the nominee she'd have no one else to pick but
Obama," the strategist said. "But from Obama's perspective, his argument is
about change, I think he'd be better off picking someone else."

From Clinton's perspective, the Democrat added, "I don't know for her
political future if it's all that useful to be vice president. I think she can
have an enormous influence in the Senate over a long period of time."

A former Clinton White House aide wondered if Obama would want to bring the
former first lady and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, back into the
White House.

The official said since New York Sen. Clinton had conducted a far-reaching
attempt to change the U.S. health care system as first lady, she would be
expecting similarly big tasks as vice president.

"She's been a formidable opponent thus far. Can you imagine, with the
proximity in the West Wing of the vice president's office to the Oval Office? I
think she would be in there quite a bit," the official said.

(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan; Editing by Eric Beech)