In a (sort of ) funny column on the Hillary Clinton-John McCain conspiracy to sink The One, Maureen Dowd slips in a serious point in the guise of Clinton telling McCain what else he can do to repay her for all her sage advice:

“You can announce that you won’t be running for re-election because you’d be 76, and you can pick somebody really lame to run with, like your pal Lieberman. That means one term for you, and two for me.”

Putting aside the merits of the VP pick, her underlying point is sound: a one-term pledge seems now like a no-brainer. Not only will the Clinton supporters salivate at the potential to begin all over again (the eternal campaign cycle will begin before it’s over), but it is of course the perfect coda to the “putting country first” theme McCain has been polishing. No more endless campaigning, no more pleasing interest groups: McCain will come for one more tour of duty, knock heads ,and turn a reformed government back to his party for another generation. Or something like that. (And after all, what are the chances McCain–at 76 years old–would run for a second term anyway?)

Clintonites and conservative Republicans would exchange glances, applaud wildly, and do what they can to make sure the White House is vacant in four years. Some might call it gimmicky or the type of thing McCain would try if the summer hadn’t gone so well. But I think the current McCain team is smart enough to know that pulling even doesn’t mean winning and they need every advantage they can get. Such a plegde is a perfect mix of self-serving pomp and sly politics that would suit McCain to a T. And, as a bonus, it might–depending on the timing–just steal some more days of the news cycle from his floundering adversary.