Senator Barack Obama ridiculed the idea of being Senator Hillary Clinton's running mate Monday, saying voters must choose between the two for the top spot on the fall ticket. The Illinois senator noted that he has won more states, votes and delegates than Clinton. "I don't know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who is first place," Obama said, drawing cheers and a long standing ovation from the audience in Columbus, Mississippi. Saying he wanted to be "absolutely clear," he added: "I don't want anybody here thinking that somehow, 'Well, you know, maybe I can get both.' Don't think that way. You have to make a choice in this election. I am not running for vice president," Obama said. "I am running for president of the United States of America." Senator Obama aides said Senator Clinton's recent hints that she might welcome him as her vice presidential candidate appeared meant to diminish him and to attract undecided voters in the remaining primary states by suggesting they can have a "dream ticket." Obama had never suggested he might accept a second spot on the ticket. But until Monday he had not ridiculed the notion so directly.
He told the audience that it made no sense for Clinton to suggest he is not ready to be president and then hint that she might hand him the job that could make him president at a moment's notice. "If I'm not ready, how is it that you think I should be such a great vice president?" he said, as the crowd laughed and cheered loudly. Senator Clinton and her husband, the former president, had suggested recently that a Clinton-Obama ticket would be popular and formidable against Republican Senator John McCain in November. Many political activists discounted the notion all along. They noted that the two senators do not have a warm relationship and, more important, that Obama would be ill-served by hinting he might accept the vice presidential slot when he holds the lead in delegates and hopes to win the presidential nomination. In the latest Associated Press count, Obama leads Clinton, 1,578-1,472. He has won 28 contests to her 17. Also, many insiders feel the fast-rising senator would be annoyed in the vice president's job, especially in a White House where Bill Clinton would almost surely play a huge advisory role.
So two teams are playing in a championship game and the team that is behind offers the team that is leading the second place trophy, WOW Hillary…
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