Balancing the ticket

This is a fun part of the year for pundits, armchair quarterbacks and general prognosticators... I'm not sure which category I fall in but, like everyone watching the Presidential race, I'm also curious about who will be picked for a VP ticket... Let's look at what each candidate needs.

John McCain: Someone young with good economic credentials and (ideally) executive experience. Regionality is certainly a factor but not a required one. More than any other candidate, it's less important that the VP chosen "be able to serve as President on day one"... But MORE than any other candidate, it's got to be someone people can see as President a few years down the road. Ideally, it's also someone who at least doesn't anger the religious right.

Barack Obama: Needs experience (again ideally executive experience). Needs someone good on foreign policy. Regionality is something of an issue for him not because he needs it but because a Southern governor or big name could put the South in play in a way it's never been.

Hillary Clinton: What does she need? Well, more than anything else she needs to preserve the energy in the democratic nominating process. She needs to retain the voters of Barack Obama.

Shortlist for the spots:

McCain:
Mitt Romney has got to head any list. He meets every criteria and he puts Mass. into play for the Republicans. Until the other day, the question was whether or not he would actually accept. Now I'd just like to know if he pissed off McCain by doing it preemptively. Other candidates:

Charlie Christ: Only been governor for 2 years but he's well liked in Florida and is someone I think people could see growing into the role of President. Persistent rumors about his sexuality might be of concern... or it might be a chance for the Republican party to show that it can and will be inclusive.

Christine Todd Whitman: A shortlister for President Bush's VP 8 years ago. She's dropped off the national map but she brings a lot of things to the table for McCain. She's economically strong, charismatic, young and she breaks the mold of "crusty white guys" that the Republicans tend to get saddled with.

Joe Lieberman: Six months ago this seemed like a real possibility (and one that I'm sure had some Democratic strategists up late at night). Now that McCain has had to tack right to solidify the base, this just doesn't seem a very likely choice.

Smart money: Mitt Romney but possibly some other ex or current governor

Barack Obama:
Hillary Clinton: While he's said she'd be on the shortlist, I don't think this choice is very likely. It breaks the mold of what his campaign is about "Change". It's not an impossible sell but it will certainly energize Republicans and may cost Obama some of those precious Independent voters.

Colin Powerll / General Wesley Clark / Admiral William Fallon / General David Patreus: A war hero is a very, very attractive candidate for the VP slot for Obama. It shores up every single one of his weaknesses. Reinforces the notion that he's selecting people from outside Washington. And it helps to grab independent "defense" voters. Everyone assumes Patreus is a Republican but I don't think that's necessarily true or, frankly, important. Fallon just resigned in a very high profile way. He carries the extra bonus of being known as a Bush detractor while also getting praise from President Bush.

Chris Dodd: An elder statesman in the senate. He covers a lot of Obama's weaknesses but he didn't exactly take fire in the primaries. There's a long but poor history of nominees choosing low finishing competition to be their running mate. I think this is a bad idea.

Smart money: Who knows but I think Fallon is a very attractive candidate (providing he doesn't have Stockdale syndrome)

Hillary Clinton:
Barack Obama: The only name on Hillary's list. She MUST choose him if she wants to have any hope of beating McCain.

Smart Money: I don't know what the Vegas odds would be (betting on a Presidential is illegal even in Vegas) but I've got to think 10:1 at best against Obama being the running mate.

I'll keep everyone posted as things change or I hear more names.