Here are the Evans-Novak VP choices and my comments. My other questions are who is known as smart and hard-working? With whom would Obama be the most comfortable working?

1. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine: The logical choice is a moderate Southern governor, and Kaine is the only one who fits that description. His negatives are multiple: only been governor for two and one-half years, with few accomplishments; an absolutely zero profile nationally with low charisma to match; hard to imagine him as President of the United States. But he's popular in Virginia, which hasn't been carried by a Democrat for president since '64, but would be possible with Kaine on the ballot.

[The moderate Southern governor logic is tired. VA is in play regardless, and Kaine is a bit too conservative. I like him, he's an outsider, but they accurately note his many drawbacks.]

2. Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.): He is qualified to be President, and gives foreign policy expertise to Obama. He adds experience and age to the ticket, is a Catholic and was impressive as an unsuccessful presidential candidate (much better than in his disastrous '88 run). The downside is that he talks too much, but who listens to vice presidential candidates anyway?

[Good potential choice]

3. Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.): He adds moderation and is presentable as a future President. But a fellow senator from the neighboring state of Indiana doesn't add much balance. If he could really bring Indiana into the Democratic fold, it would be worth putting him on the ticket. But that's a stretch.

[Too conservative, too boring. He is young and has executive experience as a former governor. Does he have any foreign policy experience? I assume he voted for the war, although so did several of the other Senators who are potential VP candidates.]

4. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell: He is very able and very experienced, a ticket-balancer: age 64, Jewish, Clinton supporter and pins down a state that Democrats must win to elect a president. The problem is that he just doesn't look or sound much like a president.

[Too old-school, too many pro-Clinton, anti-Obama statements from the PA primary, we are going to win PA anyway, not as young or pro-change.]

5. Al Gore: Back again! We don't think he would do it, but it's possible. The question: Does he drive off more independents and Republicans than he attracts?

[He's only 60, so age is okay, and obviously has tons of experience and is high-profile and vetted, but he seems pretty set against running. I think the idea of making him VP and giving him the Admin's energy portfolio makes a lot of sense and would love to see it, but would it perversely make it harder to pass an audacious energy bill?]

6. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.): He's only 48 years old and elected to the Senate just in 2006, so it doesn't make much sense to have two young first-term Senators on the ticket. Also, he would be an insult to his blood enemy, Rendell. But otherwise he's a ticket-balancer: Catholic, pro-life, pro-gun. He endeared himself to Obama campaigning against the Rendell organization in Pennsylvania.

[Too conservative -- I actually wouldn't want him to be President b/c I'm afraid of the Supreme Court justices he would appoint, and we're going to win PA.]

7. Sam Nunn: The former senator hasn't run office since '92, so it's doubtful how much he would help in the probably unwinnable state of Georgia, and he would be 71 years old when elected. He is still anathema to the gay community for his opposition to "don't say, don't tell". Nevertheless, his national security experience makes him attractive to some party insiders.

[I hope this is a joke. Too conservative, too old, out of the game for too long, etc.]

8. Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y): Immensely improbable if only because it brings Bill Clinton back into the picture.

[I like Hillary and Bill, but I just don't think it would work. It brings too much drama back from the primaries and stomps all over the change message. She obviously has the experience, although I think Obama wins most of her primary voters even without her on the ticket, and the ones he loses might not vote for him even with her on the ticket.]

I like Governor Sibelius because she is a 'twofer'. Her childhood as the daughter of an Ohio governor gives her strong ties to an important state in addition to her own state of Kansas. I like how she stood up to George Bush about the deployment of Kansas National Guard troops to Iraq and how it harmed the state's disaster relief efforts. I think she could be a good President.

Picking a running mate because he/she appeals to McCain supporters is essentially bringing a bit of McCain (lite) into the White House.

I'd rather see Obama pick a VP based on who will best help him govern, not who will best help him win. Obama himself has said politicians spend too much time worrying about how to win the next election and not enough on why they should.

For me, the best pick is Richardson. From the debates, I got the sense that he and Obama share a philosophy of governing as well as common positions. I think Richardson was the only one to the left of Obama on pulling out of Iraq. Plus, his breadth of experience would be a benefit as Obama tries to get up to speed on issues he hasn't really dealt with before.

The home-run choice would have been Mark Warner - incredibly popular at home and a business success who can address the economy - but since he's out of the running, my top choices are:

- Kathleen Sebelius - she can connect with the average middle-American voter on the economy

- Brian Schweitzer - see above

- Jack Reed - new enough on the national scene to speak of change, but a man of such utter competence that it would reflect incredibly well on the judgment of Obama.

A vote for Biden: foreign policy pro; long career and experience as a Senator which means that he knows how to deal with Congress so that change could actually be implemented in legislation; will not want to run for POTUS again himself (probably) but, should it become necessary, has full creds for stepping in smoothly.
Katherine Sebelius, though qualified as a choice, would offend Hillary's supporters, and her calm, cool personna (a plus, in fact) would be perceived as being too much like Obama's for the people who vote on the basis of with whom they would feel comfortable having a beer.

As a Vietnam-era draft resister and a longtime anti-imperialist, I'm surprised myself to see the name I'm mentioning, yet can't resist the chance to be the first to mention Wes Clark for VP.

Totally reinforces Obama's credibility as Commander In Chief, and to my mind the little kerfluffle the Repubs tried to raise last month on his just-beginning-to-touch on McCain's actual military judgement and record is _exactly_ what the Obama strategists wouldn't mind having the media dredge back up and expand and become the issue of the week.

Plus Clark's Presidential-ness well trumps just about any Republican name McCain may have under consideration.

Don't know how he stacks up on all the other little considerations (age, religion, state) but the balance of his being the former NATO commander who barely lost any troops in his war, and the same-ness of his having second most-polished and accomplished "managerial manner" in American politics after Barack himself ...

to me, it puts Lyndon Johnson's popular vote percentage record in serious jeopardy.

Nationally R and G has it as a tossup. More importantly R has Obama behind by 10 in Ohio, down by a few in Florida, with no chance in W VA and Arkansas. With Hillary all of these would be in play. Obama is a stronger fellow than you think and he can handle the ex-president. Besides Bill owes this to Hillary and WILL stay out of the picture.

Do you want to win or just take your football and go home.