Clinton camp says Obama could pass national security ‘threshold’

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Howard Wolfson, Hillary Clinton’s chief spokesman, tried to connect some dots this morning that have been bugging me since last week. If, as Clinton likes to suggest, Barack Obama has not met the “national security threshold,” why is her campaign hinting that he would make such a good vice president — someone who might someday have to step in as commander in chief?

In a call with reporters today, Wolfson said that while Obama has not yet met the “threshold,” it may be possible for him to do so by August:

Senator Clinton will not choose any candidate who has not at the time of choosing passed the national security threshold. But we have a long way to go until Denver, and [choosing Obama is] not something she’s prepared to rule out at this point.”

Come again? Wolfson must think it’s possible to accumulate foreign-policy know-how in dog years. Politically speaking, I suppose a lot can happen between now and August 25. But this formulation will be lost on anyone who thinks seriously about international affairs. How exactly are Obama’s qualifications to be commander in chief going to change radically over the next 24 weeks? By campaigning in Puerto Rico?