Clinton Theater, Act 2

You really can’t make this stuff up. And I’m not talking about Prosecutor Poster Boy caught in the act with a high-priced prostitute.

No, I mean Bill and Hillary trying to belittle Barack Obama by implying he could join a Hillary ticket as her vice presidential pick. Talking down to him, the Clintonian thinking goes, will work to persuade nervous superdelegates who may be reconsidering nominating the candidate who has won the most delegates and choosing instead the one who has not only won big general election map states but also scared voters in Ohio and Texas into thinking Obama isn’t ready to answer that scary phone call at 3 a.m.

Just like when reporters asked two weeks ago what qualified Clinton to answer the call herself — and silence hung on the conference call as top campaign staff fumbled for an answer — her staffers embarrassed themselves again when asked why Obama could be a vice president without the national security credentials Clinton maintains he lacks.

Howard Wolfson, spokesman, said during a conference call with reporters that Obama had not passed an unspecified “key national security test” but that Obama would, perhaps, by the time of the convention this summer in Denver. Hello, Howard — do tell us which Pentagon Primer camp we too can attend this summer to learn how to handle national security matters before August. Maybe that way one of us can break the impasse and win the nomination.

So, according to the Clintons, it’s time to talk about her nomination and VP pick. And don’t worry, there is time for Obama to make it over that certain “threshold” the Clinton camp speaks of. But there will be no talk now about Clinton serving in the second slot if Obama prevails. When asked by Newsweek in an interview this week if she would take the job, Clinton said, “It’s premature, so we’re just going to keep going and I’m going to try to get the nomination.” Note the use of “get,” not “win.”

The Clintons’ brazen political calculations may pay off, getting Obama off message as he tries assuring his supporters he won’t take the job. Of course he dignified the insult with a response, which is what they want him to do. But even the Clintons must know their schtick has become laughable. And for nervous undecideds who actually do buy into Hillary’s tough talk about the middle of the night but are still wary of bringing Clinton Theater back to the West Wing, it may backfire.

Obama may not be as able a politician as either Clinton — we don’t yet know — but one thing is sure, he doesn’t play these reindeer games. And that’s not media bias.

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ASK A.B. returns on Tuesday, March 18, as we begin the long, five-week countdown to the Pennsylvania primary. Please join me for my weekly Q & A video posts by sending useful, interesting and entertaining questions to askab@digital-staging.thehill.com.