[roni]

Originally Posted by MWC

I think the Clinton camp has burned too many bridges with the African-American community for Obama to give her the VP slot. I think the rhetoric and innuendos from both Bill and Hillary have done some real hurt, and that will need time to heal. I don't see Obama's black supporters being ready to cozy back up to the Clintons anytime soon.

For Obama, Ed Rendell would be a great choice. He's a fantastic retail politician, would perform well in the traditional "bulldog" role that the VP candidate usually plays, has concrete domestic policy at both the city and state level, and has a strong base of popularity in Pennsylvania. Plus it would be a good sop to the Clinton camp, as Rendell was a strong supporter of Hillary's. Strickland of Ohio might be another choice for the working-class white vote, for a lot of the same reasons -- but I think Rendell plays that same role, and better. I think Senator Jim Webb from Virginia would be good to buff up Obama's military credentials, could really strike back at McCain on Irq and veterans' services policies, and I think they'd be a dynamic team on the campaign trail. Other wildcards from Virginia could be former Governor Mark Warner, or the current governor. Bill Richardson is probably on the short list, and that would make a great "New America" statement, but I'm not as excited about him as I would be for Rendell or Webb. Obama's going to want to play the diplomatic role Ricardson typically sees himself in ... I don't see that combo making a stronger whole.

McCain-Gingrich would be really, really interesting -- Newtie is impressing me with his push to re-energize the Republican Party, and his intellect would be a nice complement to McCain's apparent lack thereof. Forget about age, that's who I would go with, if I were McCain.
I think Mitt Romney should be on the short list, for his experience in business and state-level governance. Mike Huckabee, for the religious right and also Huckabee's state-level governance experience. He and his wife might also "humanize" the ticket a bit. I agree that McCain's more-likely pick is Charlie Christ from Florida -- but that will be a HUGE mistake, because Florida's state economy is about to be crippled by the mortgage crisis and high real-estate-vacancy levels. So he's not going to look like any kind of genius.
McCain's got real problems with his potential picks.

From another thread

Originally Posted by Jacko

Obama open to Clinton as possible running mate

"She is tireless, she is smart. She is capable. And so obviously she'd be on anybody's short list to be a potential vice presidential candidate," said Obama, who inched closer to winning the nomination by routing Clinton in North Carolina and almost defeating her in Indiana on Tuesday.