John "I have a secret child with a woman who is not my cancer-ridden wife" Edwards did not succeed in his mission to sabotage the Democratic Party's presidential hopes in 2008. But — as is becoming increasingly clear — it was not for lack of trying.

In his new autobimemoir of the '08 campaign trail, Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe recounts an amazingly gracious offer from the Edwards campaign…

"Listen. It's clear unless the race is shaken up, Hillary is going to win. You guys might not even win South Carolina. What would shake the race up is John ending his campaign, but not simply to endorse another candidate. All things being equal, John prefers Barack. They should announce they are joining forces and will run as a ticket. Edwards can vouch for Obama with blue-collar and Southern whites and is running on a change message.

"It's a perfect fit. And it has to be something that big to slow down Hillary. You need a big shakeup in the race and this could be it."

And he had the perfect big shakeup just waiting to be shooken up, didn't he?.

Ah, what could have been.