It got me to wondering, if he really wanted to pick a Republican from a state where he'd need a boost in the general election, and who would bring a military background to the ticket, why wouldn't he just pick McCain and we could just be done with this whole damned thing already?

My vote for veep is Sen. Daniel Akaka, just because I don't think I could ever get sick of saying Obama / Akaka.  

Obamakaka!

I'll wait until Clinton concedes. We have lot's of time till then to suggest the right candidate...Note, I won't hold my breath.

As for this line:-

"In addition, Obama will have to overcome John McCain's perceived advantage (mainly experience) on national security."

perceived: McCain' gaffe should put that to rest. Twenty years in Satan land, it's hard doing the Lord's work.

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"

The most important reason, though, is that he brings Texas in rich, and that is the richest prize in the mix.  It more than pays for Ohio and Florida.

Knut

My pick would be Senator Chris Dodd, who is a stalwart defender of the Constitution.

Has he/she been through a tough campaign where a lot of mud was flung?   How tough a campaigner have they shown themselves to be?  How likely are they to make gaffs on the campaign trail?  

Have both of them been completely vetted so there are no skeletons in their closets?  

To me, these are really important questions in addition to the experience question.  

My first thought is that he'll actually ask Clinton, but demand no lobbyist contributions and that will be the deal killer. Sebelius would be a great second choice.

Michaela

We are already asking people to take a flying leap into the unknown.  Having a second first time ever candidate would complicate that immensely.

But there are some things to look for in a vp other than vote pulling probably.  I am not sure what all they are, but we can look at some failures - Cheney and Lieberman for two.  I don't think Katherine is in any way related to either of those.

Gore was the first vp to really partner up with his presnit.  Most of the time the vps are shoved in a corner.  Cheney has a corner but we all know he wasn't shoved there, he lurks there!

One commentator said that Edwards didn't take the attack dog role seriously and was not a help to Kerry.  I didn't notice Gore doing that, Cheney yes.

Grandma Jo

Reed sounds good though I know little of him.  Is Richardson out of the question at this point?  

Oh, there you are, Perry. -Phineas -SLB-

And keep your hands off Barbara Boxer. She's ours.

He has a few ideas he would need to be shed of, for instance on creating fuel from liquified coal -- a proposal that would benefit Montanans (there's a huge coal field down near Hardin, if I remember right) but the environment, not so much. In general, though, he'd be a good VP candidate -- if he would take the job, which I don't think he would.

Sebelius is a possibility if the DNC could pay for a charisma infusion. I'm not sure who else would be a winner, but as a Westerner it would be nice if it were someone from out here.

I for one welcome our new Twitter overlords. @Omir55

As a reason why loonies will not threaten Obama?

Who is it that Republicans would want most to see as vice-president but least want to see as president?

50 states, 210 media market, 435 Congressional Districts, 3080 counties, 192,480 precincts

Swing state. National Security. Attractive to middle America.

Yep, Reed IS a pretty intriguing choice. I've seen him do interviews here and there, and he always comes off in a positive way, to my thinking. AND the foreign policy angle, I believe, will be crucial this cycle--especially if things are seen as going relatively well in Iraq going into November. So, if the Obama campaign feel they should try to consolidate the Dem base or go in a more progressive direction, I'd definitely consider Reed. If they feel it would be more advantageous in the General to go with a moderate, then (again, assuming national security cred trumps all else) I'd seriously consider Sen. Jim Webb.

To that end, here's my quite possibly lame reasoning. Likely won't get much agreement on this, but then again, I'm not sure I agree with it--just thinking out loud, really.

Webb might be clever choice. His blue dog status doesn't especially bother me either (I will note that I don't see him as a good heir apparent VP pick). And Reed certainly wins on progressive bona fides. But here's the potentially significant advantage to Webb as I see it: I think Webb could potentially put forth one of the most serious, effective rebuttals of McCain's (Bush's) Iraq policy to be found--even better than Reed. He's got a son serving there, AND he was against Iraq to begin with, I think, so that's looks good. (Anybody who voted for it would be... problematic. (Yeah, I'm talkin' to you, Hillary!)  

And then there's this: Anyone who saw Webb's 2007 SOTU rebuttal saw a lot to be impressed with--his handling of Iraq and the economy stand out. In comparison, I thought Sebelius' response this year was kinda tepid, though I know she's on Obama's VP list for a lot of people. In spite of his recent vote on telecom immunity--which I don't yet feel should necessarily be a dealbreaker--with Webb you would get a smart, quick, highly informed running mate with serious national security/foreign policy credibility (which Obama would greatly need against McCain), and on the Economic front, he has an impressive, Edwards-like populist streak. He's concerned with economic inequality and corporate abuse, and he's even pushing for prison reform, I think.  These things might resonate especially well with blue collar/lower income Democratic voters--a chunk of the electorate it wouldn't hurt Obama to shore up.

Additionally, Webb is from Virginia, which is trending bluer every day, and is shaping up as a real battle state this fall. He might also prove of some use by potentially eating into McCain's pro-military/independent vote, especially in the South. Barring some unknown personality conflicts between Obama and Webb, I think they would complement each other well as running mates. Webb can be effectively combative when necessary, but isn't generally too much of a fire-eater. The Dems could use Webb as an efficient attack dog against the Republicans when needed, while Obama would stay largely above the fray. Now, I'm hardly sold on Webb as Veep pick myself, but I certainly think he's worth considering. VA Gov. Tim Kaine, who seemed to get along exceptionally well with Obama ahead of the primary there, was also reportedly floating Webb's name.

Oh, and I also like Richardson and Dodd, but they seem more valuable to me as cabinet material. Man, Dodd would really crack some heads over at Justice, wouldn't he?