Hillary can never win a majority of the votes. That should be plain as day.
But a John McCain running as an Independent offers her a clear opportunity to become a plurality President -- just as Bill Clinton was made President by Ross Perot's candidacy. Hillary can count, too.
The idea is to a.) make a McCain candidacy inevitable...to John McCain, then b.) contribute to his defeat in the GOP primary and, finally, c.) support his launching of an Independent candidacy. If, by some device, he becomes a threat to her, the MSM possesses ample ammunition to destroy him.
Unless the GOP candidate is really, really strong (as GHWB wasn't), this plan could work -- as the only thing it requires for McCain's cooperation is his ego.
After the massive, unrelenting, and constant POSITIVE PR that the MSM have given McCain, it will be totally impossible for the MSM to accomplish a 180 in that length of time.