McClatchy Newspaper's Thomma writes that Barack Obama's near-grasp of the WH Dem nod has started "the next great guessing game in American politics: Who will be his running mate?"
"Will he pick someone with expertise in foreign policy or national defense to offset his lack of experience? A governor from a battleground state with executive experience? How about a former rival - maybe named Clinton?"
Some names being mentioned:
• Hillary Clinton: She "has deep support from working-class whites, women and older Democrats. Having her on the ticket could unify the party. A lot depends on how she runs in the final weeks of the campaign, however. Obama and Clinton clearly don't get along, and a scorched-earth campaign against him would make that worse. Also, nobody knows how" Bill Clinton "would fit into" an Obama admin.
• Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA): Webb is "popular" in VA and "pulls votes from working-class whites." Downside: Just "elected to office for the first time just 18 months ago, Webb is still newcomer to politics who sometimes has struggled to control his temper."
• Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE): Biden "acquitted himself well in his" WH bid, "notably curbing his tendency to talk too much. Downside: His muzzle could fall off."
• Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark: "As a Clinton backer this year, [Clark] could help repair relations with Clinton supporters. The negative: He had testy relations with other military officers that could come back to haunt him, and his political experience is thin."
• Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO): "Obama supporters think she's done well making the campaign's case on TV throughout the long primary campaign. She's also closer to Obama's generation than many other potential running mates, and a Roman Catholic — a swing voting bloc." Downside: Elected in '06, "she has even less experience ... than does Obama, elected two years earlier."
• NM Gov. Bill Richardson (D): "The resume candidate, with legislative experience in Congress, diplomatic experience at the United Nations and abroad, and executive experience as secretary of energy and governor. Also comes from a swing state and speaks to Hispanics, a key group Obama needs. Downside: He couldn't win a single primary himself."
• KS Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D): "Ancestry is important in the Sebelius equation." Her father, John Gilligan, was OH gov, and KS "was Obama's mother's home." Downside: She has no foreign policy or nat'l security experience, and like all potential female VP noms, she shares the possible liability that adding a woman to a ticket headed by an African-American might be overloading it with too much change for America to swallow."
• OH Gov. Ted Strickland (D): He "helped deliver the state in the primaries" for Clinton and "could help Obama reach out to her supporters there and elsewhere." Downside: "It's debatable whether any vice presidential candidate could deliver his home state" (5/9).
Obama, on CNN's "Situation Room": "We haven't wrapped this thing up yet. At the point where I'm the nominee I'll start going through the process of figuring out what my running mate, who my running mate might be" (5/8).
Dem strategist Joe Trippi on who would be the best running mate: "John Edwards, absolutely. It's not because I worked for him. I think just the force of two people, son of the south ... joining with the senator from Lincolns, Illinois, would be just a powerful thing about putting the divisions in this country behind us and moving forward" ("Early Show," CBS, 5/9).
Dem radio talk-show host Bill Press, on the Dem "dream ticket": "If you can get the passion of Obama and the energy of Clinton on the same ticket, look, John McCain may as well go back to the ranch in Arizona and stay there" ("Verdict," MSNBC, 5/8).
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