'So what's in this for Hillary?'

Full Salon story here.

What's in it for Clinton might seem a little less obvious. After all, she won 18 million votes in the Democratic primary campaign; you'd think that would give her a pretty good head start on building a national constituency as a power player in the Senate. But you'd probably be wrong, and that, former Clinton advisors say, is likely why she decided, in the end, to sign up with Team Obama. Ask John Kerry (or, for that matter, John McCain) how much clout losing presidential candidates bring home with them once it's all over. It turns out 18 million votes don't go that far on Capitol Hill. . . .

Saying no, though, might have been just as difficult. "Her life truly is about public service, and when the next president says, 'We need you,' someone like Hillary Clinton's natural inclination is to agree to do the job," Garin said. Besides, leaving the Senate may not prove to be that difficult. For all the back and forth over experience during their primary campaign, Clinton has only been there four years longer than Obama has -- this isn't exactly Bob Dole sacrificing his beloved seat after nearly three decades in a failed effort to defeat Clinton's husband. "I think Hillary loves being a senator, but at the same time, I don't think she loved a lot of the headaches that come along with being a senator," said one former advisor. . . .