COLUMBUS, Miss. -- If she is serious about offering him the job, he says he is not interested and adds she does not even have the standing to extend such an offer.
After nearly a week of Hillary Clinton's publicly flirting with the notion of picking Barack Obama as her running mate - should she win the nomination - the Illinois Democrat sought yesterday to end the chatter.
"With all due respect, I've won twice as many states as Senator Clinton. I've won more of the popular vote than Senator Clinton. I have more delegates," he said. "So, I don't know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who is in first place."
The Clinton campaign has pressed the idea of a Clinton- Obama "dream ticket" as a way to win over Democrats torn between the two, while at the same time questioning Obama's readiness to be commander in chief.
That has led to questions about an apparent inconsistency in the possibility someone could be considered suitable to be a heartbeat from the presidency, yet still be unprepared for the job.
Clinton's communications director Howard Wolfson told reporters yesterday that Obama might be seasoned enough by August, when the party holds its national convention.
"We have a long way to go between now and Denver," he said. "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."
In response, Obama feigned confusion as he campaigned in Mississippi, a state with a large black population where Obama is expected to easily win today's primary, the last before Pennsylvania's on April 22.
"I don't understand," Obama said. "If I'm not ready, how is it that you think I [would] be such a great vice president? Do you understand that?"
Saying that he wanted to be "absolutely clear," he stressed that he is not part of a package with Clinton. "I don't want anybody here thinking that somehow, 'Well, you know, maybe I can get both,'" he said. "Don't think that way. You have to make a choice in this election."
Analysts suggest that Clinton's strategy of so prominently invoking Obama's name as a running mate seeks to elevate her and diminish him, essentially suggesting that it might be fun to flirt with him, but ultimately he is only ready to be No. 2.
The running-mate hints, also pushed over the weekend by former President Bill Clinton, some suggest, seek to plant doubts in the minds of Democrats who may harbor questions about whether Obama is ready.
While campaigning yesterday in Pennsylvania, Clinton seemed to soften the suggestions she has made since winning three of four state primaries a week ago.
"Democrats have to make a choice, and I'm looking forward to getting the nomination," she told the Associated Press. "It's preliminary to talk about whoever might be on whose ticket."
A joint ticket is an appealing idea for many Democrats, who like both candidates and wish they did not have to pick. But such a combination seems far-fetched.
Most analysts say that Clinton is unlikely to pick Obama should she win the nomination, since a more traditional white male from a swing state would be a safer choice. She also does not need someone with more charisma and sharper rhetoric to overshadow her, a problem she already has with her husband.
Whatever the strategies, a joint ticket is often suggested to Obama as he campaigns.
"What he lacks, I think she complements," said Nakikke Wallace, a student counselor from Baldwyn, Miss., who attended Obama's event here. "Together, it would be a force I don't think the Republicans would be ready for."
Still, Wallace said she wants to see Obama at the top of the ticket. "He's most popular, he's male and he can really motivate you," she said.
Obama's top strategist, David Axelrod, called Clinton's suggestions a "tactic that needed to be punctured" as he suggested she is trying to leverage his popularity. "What they are trying to do is say, 'Vote for me and you get Obama,'" he said.
Noting his early opposition to the invasion of Iraq, Obama pointed to a recent Clinton ad that suggests he is not ready to answer a 3 a.m. crisis phone call in the White House.
"I believe the most important thing when you answer that phone call at three in the morning is what kind of judgment do you have, not how long have you been in Washington," he said. "I believe I have shown better judgment than Senator Clinton."
John McCormick writes for the Chicago Tribune.