If it sounds silly when put this way, that’s because it is.

It’s little wonder, then, that Sen. Barack Obama is criticizing his rival Sen. Hillary Clinton’s repeated hints she would take him for the No. 2 spot on her presidential ticket, accusing her of double-talk and playing political games.

While Clinton is by no means out of it, Obama has won 26 out of 40 contests and leads the hard-fought Democratic race by about 100 delegates.

Obama, who hopes to add a Mississippi win to his total today, raised both of these facts on the campaign trail yesterday, saying he is in this race to take on John McCain in November and to lead America after that.

Barack Obama chats with a pair of supporters in Mississippi.

“I don’t know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice presidency to somebody who is in first place,” Obama said.

“I’m not running for vice president. I am running for president of the United States of America. I am running to be commander in chief.”

The former First Lady is playing a political game here, planting the idea of putting her at the top of the ticket even though she trails in the close race, while subtly reaching out with a compliment to millions of Obama supporters.

It’s a shrewd move, but one thing doesn’t add up - if Barack Obama hasn’t passed the commander-in-chief test, as the Clinton camp repeatedly asserts, how can he be so perfect for the role of Vice President at the same time?

The V.P. spot might be a demotion from U.S. Senator or Governor of Texas, as Lone Star State Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson suggested, but its primary job description? Ability to immediately step in and take over the presidency.

That said, more than half of Democratic voters this primary season think Barack Obama should be on the ticket this November - at the top of it.