Here, in all their glory, are Rogan's Rankings for Barack Obama's vice-presidential options. (Note - I disabled comments for this post, let's put the discussion for both candidates together in the prior comment thread)
Barack Obama
Evan Bayh, senator from Indiana
This guy is kind of angling for the job. He has executive experience as governor, where he had a reputation for doing good work with the state budget. I dunno. I guess he'd be ok. He's from Indiana. He kinda bores me and I don't really have anything to say about him, but I also know he's on the short list... anyone know anything about this guy? B
Wesley Clark, retired U.S. General
This guy shores up Obama's perceived weakness on national security with experience that is basically beyond reproach. But, wait... what? "I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president," he said. That's not Obama-style politics. Plus he has had NO success as a campaigner. B-
Hillary Clinton, senator from New York
She has supporters - a lot of them, some of whom will vote McCain if Obama doesn't pick her. So we have our big group of Hillary supporters and our big group of undecided swing voters. If Obama doesn't pick Clinton, I figure the Hillary supporters still go for him 70+%, especially if he picks someone palatable to them, and the undecideds - let's say 50-50 with McCain. If Obama does pick Clinton, then your Hillary supporters go for him en masse - and your undecideds go largely to McCain. She is not well-liked outside of her rabid base, enough so that I imagine Obama would actually lose some Dems who just can't stand her. Long story short, she's a net voter loss waiting to happen. D
John Edwards, former senator from North Carolina
Like Lieberman, has a previous VP strikeout, but I blame that largely on the great blah-ness that is John Kerry (how did that ever happen, by the way?). He's likable, passionate, from the South, and fits well with Obama's change message. If not VP, then a great choice for Attorney General. A-
Chuck Hagel, senator from Nebraska
There's been a lot of talk about this possibility, since what screams "change" more than a Republican VP under a Democratic president? And if the war was the only issue (Hagel's been a very vocal critic), I'd say let's go for it. But there are a whole lot more issues out there, and not a lot of agreement between Obama and Hagel. While he'd certainly help the ticket pick up swing voters, he'd be a great risk to alienate Obama's liberal core. How about Secretary of Defense, Chuck? Let's limit him to the issues he's right about. C
Tim Kaine, governor of Virginia
Ooh, Virginia, shiny... Obama wants it, and Kaine could deliver it. He was one of the earliest national pols to declare for Obama, he's young, popular, a smart campaigner, and perhaps most importantly, popular with white rural voters. On the other hand, he doesn't do anything to shore up Obama's experience issues, he's not strong on the economy, and he's not going to make abortion-rights advocates happy. B-
Janet Napolitano, governor of Arizona
Well, she certainly puts Arizona in play! (And New Mexico, and Colorado...) Napolitano is certainly popular around here, although some recent budget problems may have tarnished that. Her gender is an asset, she has great executive experience, excellent work on immigration and education issues, and her demeanor would lend a needed practicality to the lofty words and ideas of the Obama campaign. I'm biased, because I like her, but I'm not seeing many cons. A-
Sam Nunn, former senator from Georgia
Experience - yeah, he's got experience, the guy's 70 and was a senator for 20+ years. He brings strong national security credentials, as well as popularity in the South. He's also quite a bit more moderate than Obama - and, as we all know, candidates head for the fringes during primary season and speed for the center as the election approaches. He's been out of the Senate for some time, but keeping busy. One problem is that he's not popular with the gay community ("don't ask, don't tell" is his baby), but I can't envision a gay exodus to McCain. I think this is the guy we need... A
Bill Richardson, governor from New Mexico
...unless this is the guy we need. Obama has a Hispanic problem, and picking Richardson would go a good long way towards bridging the gap. He has a lot of national experience, including a run as Secretary of Energy, and a lot of foreign policy experience, especially with hostile governments. He's a very popular governor, and with good reason. I actually preferred Richardson to Obama for the presidential nomination, and don't see how Obama could go wrong with this pick. A
Kathleen Sebelius, governor of Kansas
She's been a serious reformer in Kansas who has accomplished a lot of good things for their government and economy. She got some national exposure by doing the Democratic response to the State of the Union (which I enjoyed, though many found it dull). Obama has expressed serious admiration for her. As a Dem governor in a red state, she's developed a reputation for reaching across the aisle. But Kansas? Besides the gender card, she doesn't bring much by way of electoral votes. B+
Honorable mention: Russ Feingold! I wish!
To sum up: I hate that I have to spend so much time talking about these candidates' race and gender, but that's the reality of our current political culture. I think Obama's race gives him an advantage, at least as far as the appearance of "out-with-the-old", that McCain may feel obligated to counteract with Palin or Jindal (note - I mean like the old guard, not the old-age McCain!). Long story short, I think McCain has a lot of ground to make up if he's going to beat Obama. A number of these candidates provide a very tough-to-beat ticket, with Obama/Nunn and Obama/Richardson being the best. McCain/Palin, I think, is his best bet. The wildcards - the ones that are hardest to really "rank" - are Obama/Clinton and McCain/Romney. I have my opinions, but I'm not sure I really trust my predictions about how the electorate would respond to these tickets. If I had to guess who they're picking, I think McCain will go with Crist or Giuliani and Obama will go with Richardson or Kaine.
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