Who knew the right loved Hillary so much? Conservative bloggers are having a hard time figuring out which they are enjoying more — Vice President Joe Biden’s latest gaffes or speculation that Hillary Clinton could replace him on the ticket. 
 
 “He’s in North Carolina when he’s in Virginia. He thinks Paul Ryan is governor of one of the states numbered 51 through 57. He’s not even clear in which century he’s living. He’s Joe Biden and he’s one heartbeat away from the Presidency. Or will he be for long?” Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey mused. “The week’s misadventures for Sheriff Joe have some wondering whether he’s medically qualified for the job, and speculation rising anew that the possessor of that hygienic heartbeat may want to find someone else to square off against Paul Ryan in the October debates.” 
 
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 (Also on POLITICO: Ryan: Biden is 'desperate') 
 
 Choosing Clinton, Morrissey continued, “might be exactly what Obama needs.” But Morrissey doesn’t think it’ll happen since former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin upped the ante and told Fox News she thinks Biden should be canned. “Obama wouldn’t dare take her advice,” he wrote. 
 
 “Biden’s erratic statements certainly should make Team Obama nervous,” wrote the National Review’s John Fund. “I’ve no doubt that some Democratic strategists would love for Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to swap jobs and bolster the Democratic ticket with a little Clinton magic. But there’s no evidence that Hillary would take that deal. If she wants to run, she is already the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic nomination and would gain no advantage by being yoked to Obama, her old adversary, for the next three months if they lost or the next four years if they won.” 
 
 PJ Media’s Roger Kimball speculated that Democrats are growing weary of Biden, especially this week. “Their man has clearly let them down and the inadvertent comedy of Joe Biden screaming that Republicans are going to ‘put y’all back in chains’ isn’t helping.” 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: McCain: Would be 'wise' to can Biden) 
 
 The Chicago Tribune’s John Kass wrote, “Is it too late for President Barack Obama to pick up the phone, call Hillary Rodham Clinton and dump Vice President Joe Biden for playing the race card against Republican Mitt Romney? Yep. It’s probably too late, y’all. For years, Biden has suffered from a terrible affliction called Verpes (pronounced Vur-peez), the slang name for verbal herpes, from the Latin herpius verbulus. It comes from repeatedly taking your shoe with your foot still inside it and shoving it all the way into your mouth so that it smacks that little punching bag thing back there called a uvula.” ||||| Shortly thereafter, Sally Quinn opened an opinion piece in The Washington Post with: "Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden should switch jobs. Really." 
 
 Through it all, White House officials rolled their eyes and insisted it was meaningless chatter generated by reporters with a vested interest in ginning up drama. In September, Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass introduced Clinton at a major address by comparing her to former vice president John C. Calhoun - saying he "couldn't help notice the speculation in some parts that Secretary Clinton might just find herself trading places with Vice President Biden, becoming the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2012." Clinton just sat there and shook her head. 
 
 But is it really such a bad story for any of the parties involved, even Biden (who has by all accounts a strong relationship with Obama and is apparently unmoved by the speculation)? 
 
 It certainly beats another recent plot line: Democrats would just as soon see Clinton at the top of the ticket in 2012. A Gallup poll released last week showed Obama beating Clinton among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, but not exactly in a runaway - 52 percent to 37 percent. A separate poll showed Clinton outperforming Obama in Illinois, with 61 percent saying they viewed her favorably, compared with 52 percent for the president. 
 
 Still, even Clinton's biggest advocates are not suggesting that trading places is even under discussion. "I'd be stunned if there's anything to it," Democratic strategist James Carville said Tuesday. "Anything is possible in politics. But I don't know of anything beyond speculation, and I really doubt it's anything." 
 
 It is worth noting that similar howls are heard around Washington every four to eight years or so. Remember the strategy to remove Dan Quayle as President George H.W. Bush's running mate in 1992? Or the notion - pronounced with such certainty in some quarters - that President George W. Bush would have to kick Vice President Richard B. Cheney off the ticket in 2004 in order to win reelection? 
 
 kornbluta@washpost.com Staff writer Dan Balz contributed to this report.
– Joe Biden's "put y'all back in chains" comment has sparked plenty of calls—from Republicans including John McCain and Sarah Palin—for President Obama to boot Biden off the ticket and replace him with Hillary Clinton. But the White House insists there will be no such switcheroo, and spokesman Jay Carney couldn't resist a dig at McCain yesterday, reports Mediaite. "I have great admiration for and great respect for and a long relationship with Sen. John McCain, but one place I would not go to for advice for vice presidential running mates is to Sen. McCain," he said in response to a question from a Fox correspondent. But Obama-Clinton speculation continues at many conservative blogs and a growing number of liberal ones, Politico notes. Many pundits agree that Clinton would give the ticket a boost, but doubt she'd be interested in replacing Biden. "If she wants to run, she is already the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic nomination and would gain no advantage by being yoked to Obama, her old adversary, for the next three months if they lost or the next four years if they won," writes John Fund at the National Review.