FORMER President Bill Clinton, stung by how poor a presidential contender Wesley Clark turned out to be, worked aggressively behind the scenes late last week to pressure John Kerry to pick the retired general as his running mate.

"The former president has been calling people, including elected officials in New York, saying that Clark would make a great vice-presidential candidate," a well-known Democratic activist told The Post.

"He's pushing hard because this is a credibility issue for Clinton since everybody knows Clark was the guy he created, but yet Clark did so poorly when he ran."

Look at the source of this before giving it any great due.

Personally, I've been going back and forth in trying to decide who I think would be the better choice for Kerry's v.p., Clark or Edwards (ignoring the strong possibility that it won't be either of them), and I'm not ready yet to come out in favor of one over the other. Clark would obviously make for the strongest national security team that the Democrats have fielded in my lifetime, but he's such a poor campaigner (not due to anything but lack of experience) that he might well be a detriment overall. Edwards is, clearly, a great campaigner, and could bring with him his neo-populist "Two Americas" message, which perhaps makes him the strongest contender, assuming that he isn't tempted to go after Kerry in the next couple of weeks.

Probably the best scenario would be to have Edwards as veep, but keep Clark signed on and campaigning by announcing Kerry's intention to have him in his cabinet as secretary of defense or state, using him as this year's Colin Powell. (I've seen it suggested that Clark be made Ambassador to the U.N., but that's such an inside baseball position that I don't think it would have any great impact on the race. But if that's what Clark wants to sign on -- despite my feeling that he's not really qualified for the job -- Kerry could certainly afford to promise it.)

Postscript: Political Oddsmaker is listing Edwards as 4 to 1 (20%) and Clark as 10 to 1 (9.1%). He rates Bill Richardson (governor of New Mexico, at 9 to 2, or 18%) and Ed Rendell (governor of Pennsylvania, at 9 to 1, or 10%) as having better odds than Clark.

Also in his "Top Tier" of potential v.p.'s are Senators Bob Graham (Florida, 10 to 1, 9.1%), Evan Bayh (Indiana, 12 to 1, 7.7%) and Bill Nelson (Florida, 15 to 1, 6.3%) and Dick Gephardt (20 to 1, 4.8%).

Notable "Long Shots" include Diane Feinstein (30 to 1); Sam Nunn, Max Cleland, Lieberman, Hillary, Dick Durbin, ex-Treasury Secretary Ron Rubin, and Joe Biden (100 to 1 each); as well as Howard Dean, Eliot Spitzer (crusading Attorney General here in NY), Arizona Senator Blanche Lincoln, John Breaux (NO!) and Al Gore (200 to 1 each).

He also rates the possibility of someone not on his list being chosen at a fairly high 30 to 1.