“I worked with her; I know what a good first lady she was,” Daschle said. “But it would be hard for me to draw some degree of connection between being a first lady and having the experience to be the commander in chief.

“I don’t think anyone can look at her experience as first lady and say, for some reason, that qualifies her to run for president of the United States.”

Clinton supporter and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) said before Daschle’s comments that Obama is ready to be president but “not nearly as ready” as Clinton.

“I’ve been talking to Democratic candidates since 1980, and Hillary Clinton is the best-prepared candidate I’ve ever talked to – far better prepared than Bill Clinton was in 1992,” Rendell said.

Daschle and Rendell, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), both said they thought the Democratic race was headed for a brokered convention.

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” current DNC chairman Howard Dean said he would still like to avoid that situation – which he said in February is something the Democrats could not afford – and that he thinks the party will.

“I would like to do that, but it’s very important to let the voters vote,” Dean said. “The voters are the people who are most likely to settle this, and they ought to be given the chance to do that. If we have to sit the two candidates down … and figure out how to make peace and have a convention that’s going to work, then that’s fine. That is my job, and I’ll be happy to do it.”

But, he added, “I think this thing’s going to be resolved without having to sit the candidates down to work it all out.”