After several days of Bill and Hillary Clinton floating the idea of a joint ticket with rival Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton chief spokesman Howard Wolfson declared Monday that Clinton does not consider Obama qualified to be vice president.Still, Wolfson said Clinton would not “rule out” Obama as a potential vice president, in the event the Illinois senator is somehow able to prove he meets the test to be commander-in-chief in the five months between now and the August Democratic National Convention.
The Clinton campaign had been pressing the idea of a Clinton-Obama “dream ticket” as a way to win over Democrats torn between the two candidates at the same time it has been aggressively questioning Obama’s readiness to be commander-in-chief. That has led to questions seeking to resolve an apparent inconsistency in the possibility someone would be considered suitable to stand a heartbeat away from the presidency and yet be unprepared for the post.
Clinton Communications Director Wolfson was pressed on the point during a press conference call a few moments ago in which military advisers to the Clinton campaign again questioned Obama’s readiness to be commander-in-chief.Wolfson reaffirmed Clinton’s position that Obama has not demonstrated his suitability to guide the nation in an international crisis.
“We do not believe at this point that Sen. Obama has passed that key commander in chief test,” Wolfson said. Later, Wolfson added that what Clinton views as Obama's failure to pass that test would disqualify him as a vice presidential pick, since a vice president must be prepared to step into the presidency at a moment’s notice.
“Sen. Clinton will not choose any candidate who has not at the time of choosing passed the national security threshold, period,” Wolfson said.
But in an unusual logical twist, Wolfson said Clinton considered it possible that Obama might be able to demonstrate his readiness for commander-in-chief between now and August, when the Democratic National Convention meets in Denver and the party’s nominee must choose a running mate.
“We have a long way to go between now and Denver. And it’s not something she’s prepared to rule out at this point. But certainly anyone who is chosen as a vice presidential candidate needs to be prepared to be commander-in-chief,” Wolfson said.
