Barack Obama’s surrogates should be gracious and deflect questions about whether Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) should drop out of the race, according to an internal campaign memo obtained by The Hill.

The memo, dated May 12, also dismissed suggestions about Obama’s vice presidential running mate and the “dream ticket” as “premature.”

It contains a mock question-and-answer section that reveals how Obama’s campaign wants to approach the endgame of a long and bitter nomination fight.

Under the heading “Question and Answer on Sen. Clinton’s Course,” the memo lays out three questions and answers dealing with Clinton’s narrowing options in the wake of her failure to turn the tide in the Indiana and North Carolina primaries last week.

“Sen. Clinton has run a vigorous race for more than a year, and the decision to withdraw is hers and hers alone,” reads the answer to the pointed question: “Should Sen. Clinton drop out?”

“No matter what she decides, Sen. Obama will continue to campaign hard as we move toward the critical general election fight against John McCain.”

The questions also deal with “chatter” that the Illinois senator might help Clinton retire her substantial campaign debt or ask her to join him on the Democratic ticket as his running mate.

“That kind of talk is premature, and I’ll leave the speculation to the press and pundits,” the memo instructs surrogates to say. “Barack is focused on energizing and uniting voters as we look toward November.”

The last question in the section asks, “Is there any chance she can win?”

The Obama answer: “You’d have to ask their campaign; I’m not going to speculate on that … We feel great about where we are, and we’re incredibly thankful for the support from voters across the country.”

The memo deals with Clinton’s efforts to “change the math again” and one of the latest proposals floated by Michigan Democrats to seat the state’s delegates at this summer’s convention.

On the issue of delegate math, the memo says the Clinton campaign “lost their chance to catch up to Barack Obama in pledged delegates” and is “now trying to move the goalposts.”

“Even though their campaign and their candidate have repeatedly agreed with the [Democratic National Committee] that a candidate needs 2,025 delegates to be nominated, they now want to raise that number to suit their purposes,” the memo reads.

The campaign memo also shows a more complete picture of how much the Obama campaign has embraced the latest proposal from Michigan for a 50-50 delegate split, accusing Clinton of playing politics by not getting behind the plan.

“The Clinton campaign has rejected this proposal out of hand,” the memo reads. “Make no mistake: for them, this isn’t about the people of Michigan, it’s about whatever benefits their campaign. The Clinton campaign is rejecting this proposal simply because it wouldn’t award them enough delegates to catch up to Sen. Obama.”

The memo concedes defeat to Clinton in the next two primaries, calling her the “prohibitive favorite” in West Virginia on Tuesday.

“There is no question that Sen. Clinton is going to win by huge margins in the upcoming primaries in West Virginia and Kentucky,” the memo reads, but adds that Obama will be campaigning in both states. Obama was in West Virginia on Monday.

The memo addresses Obama’s perceived weaknesses in terms of electability and winning working-class voters.

“This issue is overblown,” the memo reads. “Obama has actually been improving his performance among these groups.”

Beginning with Ohio and moving through the Pennsylvania and Indiana primaries, the memo states that Obama is doing increasingly well with lower-income, blue-collar voters.

“Barack Obama’s life story and life’s work speak to the concerns of working people,” the memo reads, adding that the Illinois senator is the “son of a single mother and grew up in tough circumstances.”

Clinton has worked hard to sow seeds of doubt among superdelegates that Obama can connect with blue-collar white voters, as evidenced by her wins in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The Clinton campaign is hoping that a landslide win in West Virginia Tuesday will allow them to continue to push that argument.

“You’ll be hearing a lot about whether Barack Obama can win the key battleground states,” the memo reads. “He absolutely can, as polling shows. And he’s the candidate who can put new states in play for Democrats and help our candidates up and down the ballot.”