Obama today on the idea that the Clintons keep floating of a Clinton-Obama ticket: ka-POW!
With all due respect, I’ve won twice as many states as Sen. Clinton. I’ve won more of the popular vote than Sen. Clinton. I have more delegates than Sen. Clinton. So, I don’t know how somebody who’s in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who’s in first place. [Long applause.]...
But there’s a second point. This is an interesting point -- I want you guys to follow me on this. You know Pres. Bill Clinton, back in 1992, when he was being asked about his selection for vice president, he said, “The only criteria, the most important criteria for vice president, is that that person is ready, if I fell out in the first week, that he or she would be ready to be the commander-in-chief.” That was his criteria.
Now, they have been spending the last two, three weeks -- you remember that advertisement with the phone call, telling everybody, getting all the generals to say well we’re not sure he’s ready, “I’m ready on day one, he may not be ready yet.”
But I don’t understand. If I’m not ready, how is it that you think I should be such a great vice president? Do you understand that?
See, I was trying to explain to someone the “okey-doke.” Y’all know the okey-doke? It’s when someone’s trying to bamboozle you, when they’re trying to hoodwink you. They are trying to hoodwink you. You can’t say that he’s not ready on day one, unless he’s willing to be your vice president and then he’s ready on day one.
I want everybody to be absolutely clear — I’m not running for vice president, I’m running for president of the United States of America.
I’m running for president of the United States of America. I’m running to be commander-in-chief. And the reason I’m running to be commander-in-chief is because I believe that the most important thing when you answer that phone call at 3 in the morning is: What kind of judgment you have?
But wait--there's more!
So I don’t want anybody here thinking that somehow, “Maybe I can get both.” Don’t think that way. You have to make a choice in this election. Are you gonna go along with the past, or are you gonna go towards the future? Are you gonna do the same old thing, or are you gonna try something new?
Seems like a pretty good rebuttal to me, one that strongly returns Clinton's serve without turning nasty. And as Kos notes, it may be working: two new national polls show Obama with a lead over Clinton, contradicting the MSM's storyline-of-the-week about how Clinton is coming back.
UPDATE: This cartoon (h/t to Sandmonkey) makes the point even more powerfully.
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