Let's talk potential veeps.

[Direckshun]

All 8 potential winners.

Edwards: Edwards is satisfied with his populist message and believes that'll win enough votes ideologically, but will need an experienced guy to make up for the fact that he's wet behind the ears. I'm guessing Biden or Richardson would be veep. He might ask Obama just for his firepower, but that leaves his ticket vulnerable to assault on experience.

Clinton: Really the only major candidate that we've seen that can even tolerate Clinton is Biden, who was a Clintonite back in the day and boasts decades of experience, particularly on foreign policy. I can see her wanting to pick up some state governor to win his state, though, like Bayh.

Obama: I continue to think Richardson is the perfect compliment to Obama. The two agree on most issues and Richardson shores up Obama's biggest weakness: inexperience. Richardson is the governor of a swing-ish state, Hispanic, and experienced in foreign policy. Biden is another option but considering he's gaffe-prone, he might not be the guy you want running on the message of hope.

Giuliani: Giuliani's biggest problem has been winning over gun-owning members of the religious right. The best way to kill that concern without flipflopping would be to add Huckabee as Veep. Thompson would be a good choice for him but Thompson hasn't shown the campaigning ferociousness that you need from an attack-dog VP. Duncan Hunter would also do well to balance the ticket, but they're so far apart I doubt they'd get together.

McCain: Your guess is as good as mine. Traditionally I'd say he'd search for someone younger with more verve to balance the ticket, but McCain marches to his own drummer. Leiberman certainly isn't out of the question, giving the country a much-needed cross-ticket. But I doubt he picks up some guy just to satisfy the Republican base.

Romney: Romney's biggest strike against him come the national election would be his Mormonism. He's done a lot of work during the primaries trying to convince folks that his Mormonism is just another sect of Christianity, and to further push that message, Huckabee would be a wonderful veep.

Huckabee: Huckabee's got a lot of appeal to independents; its the Republican base he's struggling to win over. I believe he'll be looking for a small-government conservative as his veep should he get this far to balance his ticket appropriately for the base. I have trouble thinking of someone that might work out for him, though.

Thompson: Thompson's another unknown for me, because like Edwards he's completely comfortable with his message and he's convinced he could win the national election on his platform. He's not going to be looking for a guy who's going to balance the ticket because he likely believes he's balanced enough as it is, so he'd literally be looking for the guy he mostly believes is the right guy for the job. He's had more nice things to say about Huckabee and McCain than anybody else, but I think both of those are highly unlikely.

[patteeu]

I think Huckabee has a shot at being the running mate of either Giuliani or Romney. Maybe even McCain. As much as I'm not attracted to him, myself, he'd be good as an attack surrogate and he'd be good in the debates.

I think you make some good guesses in your OP. I think Richardson with Obama is a good fit. I'm not sure Biden would want to be VP. jAZ mentioned Wesley Clark as a possible VP for Hilary and I think that would make a lot of sense. In fact, he might be good for any of the dems.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by patteeu

I think Huckabee has a shot at being the running mate of either Giuliani or Romney. Maybe even McCain. As much as I'm not attracted to him, myself, he'd be good as an attack surrogate and he'd be good in the debates.

I think you make some good guesses in your OP. I think Richardson with Obama is a good fit. I'm not sure Biden would want to be VP. jAZ mentioned Wesley Clark as a possible VP for Hilary and I think that would make a lot of sense. In fact, he might be good for any of the dems.

Clark would be an excellent selection for Hillary and Edwards.

Not so sure about Obama. I'm not sure how Clark would work into Obama's philosophy of change.

[jAZ]

I think part of the problem with you list is that you seem a little overly (though definately not exclusively) focused on the VP coming from the ranks of the current candidates.

Clinton will pick Clark. He entered the 2004 race, IMO, purely to get experience and visiblity so that he could be her VP in 2008.

He set's up perfectly.

I also think Clark would be good for Obama... and he definately is a outsider seeking to bring change to DC. But Clark isn't the sure thing with Obama that he is with Clinton. I think you guys make a great point about Richardson for VP w/ Obama. I could see him doing that, and him throwing his support behind Obama tommorrow night (were it to happen) would go a long way towards that.

I think with McCain, it's another done deal, IMO. Sam Brownback endorsed McCain for a reason. And it's likely played a sizable role in McCain's momentum.

Lieberman won't leave the Dems unless they pull his committee chair. I just don't see him being the guy for McCain.

I could see Huckabee grabbing Rudy as his VP. They have a cozy relationship, IRC. Jake thought it was going to be the other way around, but I could see Rudy serving Huck well. Not sure his ego would allow it.

[clemensol]

Clark will without a doubt be Hillary's VP if she wins the nomination. He endorsed Hillary early on despite the fact that you wouldn't think she'd be his #1 choice given his beliefs. He would be the perfect compliment for Hillary. His military experience would be great to allieviate questions about her foreign policy/national security credentials while the fact that he's adored by the progressive wing of the democratic party would be great given that she generally doesn't do well with the moew liberal wing of the party.

For Obama, I think Richardson would make a great VP with all his experience.

On the republican side, Huckabee would be ideal for a lot of the other contenders. Especially people like Romney, Rudy (ok fine, he's no longer a contender) or McCain.

[heapshake]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Thompson: Thompson's another unknown for me, because like Edwards he's completely comfortable with his message and he's convinced he could win the national election on his platform. He's not going to be looking for a guy who's going to balance the ticket because he likely believes he's balanced enough as it is, so he'd literally be looking for the guy he mostly believes is the right guy for the job. He's had more nice things to say about Huckabee and McCain than anybody else, but I think both of those are highly unlikely.

Even though he endorsed Rudy, I could see Thompson (or even McCain) picking Tommy Thompson. I see Thompson going for a gov or former gov of a midwest state. Tommy seems like he'd be a good fit for Fred, but if its not him I could see him picking Ridge or Engler.