IT WAS INEVITABLE that with a six-week lull between the last box office hits starring Texas and Ohio, and the sell-out show on April 22 featuring Pennsylvania, we would need something to fill the air waves and generate peerless punditry while we awaited the next episode of what has become the nation's longest running melodrama, "Who Gets to Win?"

Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama would disappoint.

First, we were treated to the Bosnia blunder - twice - with husband Bill reigniting the controversy by incorrectly explaining his wife's originally mistaken version of the sniper attack incident upon landing at an airport, an incident that never happened.

Then, in case anyone missed the initial deluge of news coverage about the non-event, on April 11 the New York Times ran a nearly half page story detailing the former president's unfortunate reiteration, which according to him, prompted the following icy rebuke from the unhappy spouse, "You don't remember this. You weren't there. Let me handle it." To which he claims to have said, "Yes ma'am."

While it might be possible to joke - as some late-night talk show wits have - that perhaps both Clintons were just having adult moments, erroneous fact patterns can have much greater consequences when uttered under the full panoply of presidential authority.

More interesting still are the visions it conjures up of a co-presidency in which one resident of the West Wing already accustomed to the trappings of the Oval Office is constantly battling for supremacy with the new occupant who might prefer to make decisions without the constant threat of a private dressing down or, worse yet, public correction.

Leaving aside the dubious claim that Sen. Clinton's "80" official ventures to foreign lands (including Bosnia) either for her own causes or as a spokeswoman for her husband's administration constitutes substantive foreign policy experience, the much more intriguing question is what will happen in the ensuing struggle for power within the White House were Clinton elected.

It is difficult to imagine Bill Clinton busying himself with the details of his next golf outing or being content with offering advice on the guest lists for an upcoming state dinner while his wife is consulting with her Cabinet on Iran or economic policy.

Overlooking the inevitable cries of nepotism were he tapped to be Secretary of State or perhaps U.N. ambassador, roles for which he would be eminently well suited, how could parameters be drawn that might prevent him from overshadowing his spousal successor?

In short, is there room for two Clintons in the White House?

But these are subjects for later speculation.

There is still the small matter of who gets nominated, and Obama, not to be outdone by the Clinton gaffes, has been providing the media with damaging material as a result of his own verbal pratfalls.

His last Bay Area visit started well enough two weeks ago before an overflow audience in Kentfield willing to pony up $2,300 apiece to come see the senator from Illinois while savoring sushi and fine wines.

One attendee asked why he considered himself more qualified than the New Yorker because his positions did not seem that much different?

Smoothly, Obama gave his patented response: "Hillary is a very competent, intelligent and formidable opponent who is qualified to serve as president. But that's not my quarrel. She thinks we can continue to do business in Washington the way we always have. I do not."

Then it was off to a San Francisco fundraiser where a carelessly phrased statement intended to show sympathy for small-town working class citizens "bitter" about hardships under the Bush regime (who hence "cling to guns or religion") came off condescendingly, and was quickly re-spun by Clinton and reporters as an elitist attack on the core values of those citizens.

While raising new questions about Obama's insularity from Republican assault in the coming election, it also prolongs this April silliness until the media have something more substantive to talk about.

Richard Rubin writes a monthly column for the Marin Independent Journal. For more information on the author or to read his past articles, contact the Marin Independent Journal or visit their website at