Absolutely there should be no pretend deals where he pretends to offer it to her and she declines. First of all, I wouldn't trust her to keep her end of the bargain. She probably would trick him and then accept and then shame on him for being dumb. It is not like this is a big secret. And it is dishonest.

He should call her and say I am going to make another choice for VP but I will give you H&W. And he had better have a firm committment from his selected VP and announce it immediately. If she needs an explanation, he can say he doesn't think they would work that well together on a personal level and leave it at that. She is owed nothing. Her voters can be spoken to directly and a woman offered the slot..someone without her baggage and character constellation.

Oh, and not Rendell. That man seems like a bully to me.