If you had lived on Mars for the past 16 months and were suddenly beamed into Hillary Clinton’s rally in New York on Tuesday night, you would have thought she was about to become president of the United States.

Not only did she fail to mention that Barack Obama had won the Democratic nomination, she actually declared victory. “Because of you,” she told a cheering crowd, as she stood in front of a beaming Bill and Chelsea Clinton – having just been introduced by her campaign chairman as the “next president of the United States!” – “because of you, we won together the swing states necessary to get to 270 electoral votes.”

She added: “Nearly 18 million of you cast your votes for our campaign, carrying the popular vote with more votes than any primary candidate in history!” Then, in words that must have filled the Obama campaign with a quiet dread, she asked: “What does Hillary want?” The answer is that she wants the vice-presidency. As her nonconcession speech made clear, she intends to press her case at the risk of widening the divide between Mr Obama’s supporters and her own.

Yet one of the main obstacles to Mrs Clinton’s vice-presidential ambitions is her husband, Bill, whose outbursts during her battle not only hurt her campaign, but was again a focus of unwelcome attention yesterday. It was a reminder of why Mr Obama views the prospect of an Obama-Clinton ticket as an unappealing baggage-laden ménage à trois.

The latest controversy involving the former President was triggered by an article in Vanity Fair, which suggested that Mr Clinton’s heart bypass surgery four years ago had altered his personality and made him chronically angry. It also questioned the propriety of Mr Clinton’s fraternisation with wealthy businessmen, insinuated that his “postWhite House escapades” involved serial adultery, and cast aspersions on some funding sources for his presidential library in Arkansas.

The article was based entirely on anonymous sources, and had been receiving little attention – until Monday. Asked about the piece, Mr Clinton lost control, calling its author a scumbag, dishonest and slimy. He said it was “part of the national media’s attempt” to ruin his wife’s campaign.

Yet there are many who believe Mr Clinton was himself a significant factor in his wife’s demise. He virtually hijacked the campaign in late January, and was accused of stoking racial fears about Mr Obama before the South Carolina primary. It is a charge he denies fiercely, yet from that moment on the African-American community deserted Mrs Clinton.

His red-faced outbursts also reminded voters that a Hillary Clinton presidency would be a co-administration – a prospect that brought fresh reminders of the vaudevillian excesses of their White House years – and seemed to suggest that they felt entitled to a Clinton restoration.

Mr Clinton also appeared ring-rusty, eight years after leaving office. Just as the humiliation over Mrs Clinton’s blatantly false claim that she landed in Bosnia under sniper fire was receding, he reignited the controversy.

Like her husband, Mrs Clinton hates concessions. The last time a member of the former First Family conceded defeat was in 1980 when Bill failed to win reelection to the governor’s mansion in Arkansas. He won it back two years later.

They also have an almost preternatural desire to wrench the glare of publicity back on to themselves when the spotlight has moved away. Tuesday was a huge night for Mr Obama, but if he thought actual victory over Mrs Clinton would set him free, he was mistaken. Her speech was clear: this was defeat on her terms. “In the coming days, I’ll be consulting with supporters and party leaders to determine how to move forward with the best interests of our party and our country guiding my way.” She urged her supporters to e-mail her website with suggestions – and hopefully money. She needs donations to repay $20 million in campaign debts.

Lanny Davis, a former special counsel to Mr Clinton and one of his wife’s most strident defenders, launched an internet petition on Tuesday night to get the former First Lady on to the Democratic ticket as Mr Obama’s running-mate. He told The Times that he had asked her if she opposed the move. She did not.

Such talk, sanctioned by both Mrs Clinton and her husband, puts pressure on Mr Obama as he sets about choosing a running-mate. If Mrs Clinton fails to get the vice-presidential slot, there are other concessions she will hope to force from Mr Obama as her price for conceding. One might be to lead the crusade to reform America’s healthcare system, a reprise of the disastrous role her husband gave her in 1992. There is also growing speculation that Mr Obama could nominate her for the Supreme Court, or appoint her Attorney-General.

The simplest next step for Mrs Clinton – a return to the US Senate – is not attractive for a woman of her enormous ambition. It would take years of hard work before she could transform herself into a legislative “lioness”: she has irritated many with her sense of entitlement, and her route to Senate Majority Leader appears blocked.

Times Recommends

• Rio Tinto four held as China prepares case
• Diplomats must keep heads down and trousers up
• When in Rome should one make like Berlusconi?