As Hillary Clinton wraps up her presidential campaign with a final farewell to her staff and supporters later today, questions linger about what's next for the New York senator.

Clinton suspended her campaign with a special event in Washington D.C. shortly after noon Saturday, thanking supporters and formally throwing her support to presumed Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

This week Clinton remained coy about her future. In fact, just Tuesday she teased the political world during a speech marking the end of the Democratic primaries by asking, "What does Hillary want?"

She then went into a stump speech about ending the conflict in Iraq, health care reforms and economic help for the poor, but she didn't speak directly about what role she sees for herself.

Many political analysts say there's little doubt she wants the second spot on the ticket with Obama.

Paul Quirk, a specialist in U.S. politics at the University of British Columbia, says Clinton would likely want to use a place on the ticket as a stepping-off point for a future presidential run.

"I think her interest in being vice-president is really an interest in being president in the future," Quirk told CTV.ca.

Quirk noted there is a "compelling case" that she should be on the ticket.

"It's unusual that the second-place candidate was almost as strong as (the primary) winner and whose constituencies are complementary to the main candidate," Quirk told CTV.ca.

But Clinton's manoeuvring this week has not been the right way to go about getting the vice-presidential spot. As late as Tuesday, Clinton upset many Democrats by continuing to argue that she was the best candidate -- even after Obama had secured the delegates needed to secure the party leadership.

"I think that most analysts would say she should have used the speech on Tuesday as the opportunity to end the campaign and make a dramatic shift to supporting Obama," Quirk said. "Her decision to keep promoting her own candidacy hurts her prospects of becoming the vice-presidential nominee."

It could now appear that Obama is being pressured to take her on as his running mate. If he did tap her for the vice-presidency, it could make him look weak.

Negatives might pull down ticket

Although many Democrats have been clamouring for her to run with Obama, she may not necessarily be the best choice. Clinton's negative ratings consistently bounce around 50 per cent in the polls. Such negatives break the first rule of picking a vice-president -- that the selection should first and foremost "do no harm."

Clinton -- along with her husband, former U.S. president Bill Clinton -- is a despised figure on the conservative right. Both would give the Republicans a big boost in fundraising efforts and could bring a strong turnout of voters in November for GOP nominee John McCain.

"I think John McCain would love to see her on the ticket because then he would feel more confident he could overcome the Democratic ticket," Elizabeth Dauphinee, a York University political scientist, told CTV Newsnet.

Dauphinee, an American citizen who will soon head to the U.S. to help the Obama campaign, said Obama will need to shore up his national security credentials. Clinton would not help on that front, she said.

"I don't think it's a good idea to put Hillary on the ticket," Dauphinee said.

Quirk said Clinton may instead be offered a place in Obama's cabinet, should he win.

"A cabinet position is a hard choice," he said. "It's a trade-off between the short term and long term. A secretary of state or health -- or the position of attorney general -- are more important positions than (that of a) senator. But they are only short term -- and would she want to give up her senate seat?"

Another option for Clinton that has been bandied about is perhaps a position on the U.S. Supreme Court. But Quirk noted that because of her limited legal experience, he doubts it would actually come to fruition.

Therefore, Obama must deal with her carefully, Quirk sad. Because Clinton has so many passionate supporters, Obama needs to make sure that he brings her fully back into the fold if he wants to win in November. If he doesn't offer her the second slot on the ticket he should make sure he does not alienate her constituencies.

"The best thing for Obama would be if Hillary didn't exist and he could find a (vice-presidential) candidate who could appeal to the same constituencies and not have her negatives," Quirk said.