Steve Clemons at the Washington Note writes:

Some high level Democratic Party political insiders have shared with TWN details of a potential shift in vectors for several of the major political stars in that party.

First of all, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, whom most give high marks for the manner in which he has stewarded the Dems in the Senate despite the absence of a clear Democratic Party chief, has sent private signals to Senator Hillary Clinton and other stalwarts of the party that he "would like to" step down from his post in early 2009. Reid has not stated definitively that he will -- but he apparently prefers "whipping" the Party from behind and the side rather than serving as commander-in-chief on the Senate floor.

More after the jump

Continued:

What Reid is offering Senator Hillary Clinton is his total, robust support to succeed him as Senate Majority Leader if she elects not to pursue the Democratic nomination for President.

Many are realizing that the electoral map is not something one can wave a magic wand over and reverse the views of 42% of Americans who believe that they know Hillary Clinton well and have strongly formed views of her and will not vote for her under any conditions -- according to recent polls. Reports are that Senator Clinton herself knows this and that her own enthusiasm for running actually trails that of her husband, her advisors, and her staff -- whose enthusiasm for the race is ranked in that order with Hillary the least enthusiastic.

If this occurs (and I'm hearing strong denials already, less than an hour after Steve posted), as Steve goes on to intimate, the front runner will become Edwards who has been both working to obtain labor's support and has strong support in the early nomination states.

What Steve doesn't note is that a powerful Senator who realizes she cannot be King, may decide that being KingMaker preserves her power better.

If Hilary accepts this deal the big question is this - who does she want to be the Presidential nominee, and what does she want for her support, which comes with a truckload of money, a powerful fundraising infrastructure and strong institutional support?