How can you want him as VP, if…?
Posted: Monday, March 10, 2008 1:24 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Andrea Mitchell
From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
When asked how Hillary Clinton could consider Barack Obama to be her vice president if she does not think he's qualified to be commander in chief, Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson said on a conference call today that she does NOT think he has passed the commander in chief test yet, but there is a long way between now and the convention, and that she has not ruled out selecting him as a vice president.
(So far, he has not taken follow questions about the obvious fact that Obama is ahead in both popular vote and delegates.)
VIDEO: Mar. 10: Rejecting the idea of being Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Barack Obama says, "I don't know how somebody in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who is in first place."
Wolfson and Clinton foreign policy advisors scheduled the call to emphasize points made by the New York Times on Sunday about Obama's lack of a long legislative record in the senate and to again underscore Samantha Power's comments to the BBC last week indicating Obama might not withdraw from Iraq on the timetable he's laid out as a candidate and senator.
Specifically, Wolfson was asked: "Can you explain how the senator would consider having Barack Obama as a running mate if she does not think he's qualified to be Commander-in-Chief? Wouldn't that be the first qualification for anyone that she would consider to be on the ticket? Since she and the president over the weekend -- she Friday, again and the president on Saturday did suggest that that was certainly in their thinking?"
Wolfson answered, "Well what we have said is that Sen. Obama has not passed the Commander-in-Chief test. This is an issue that voters and reporters are asking Sen. Clinton about. It's not something that she would rule out at this point. But we do not believe as of this point Sen. Obama has passed that key Commander-in-Chief test. And there's a long way to go between now and Denver, as you know, and there's a lot left to be played out in the context of this primary.
To a follow-up question, Wolfson added, "Sen. Clinton will not chose any candidate who has not at the time of the choosing, passed the national security threshold. Period. But we have a long way to go between now and Denver, and it's not something that she's prepared to rule out at this point. But certainly anyone who's chosen as vice presidential candidate needs to be prepared to be Commander in Chief.”
NBC’s Domenico Montanaro adds, that Wolfson was then asked if there is something Obama could do between now and the August convention that would allow him to pass that Commander-In-Chief test.
“No, we’re not saying-- it’s not something we’re not prepared to rule out at this time,” he concluded.
