Veepstakes

Barack Obama is touring Virginia today with Virginia's three top Democrats, all of whom have been mentioned as potential VP candidates in one place or another. I'm not of the view that a Vice President gets you a state, the way it may have in the less national media landscape of the past. People in this day and age generally vote for the guy at the top of the ticket. I think it's far more important to pick a VP who 1) reinforces Obama's message, and 2) would make a good President in his own right. And in this story, a new name (at least to me) emerged that I quite like:

Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), an Obama adviser, offered several names to the list of potential vice presidential choices, including those of former Florida governor and senator Bob Graham; Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, a top Clinton supporter; and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, an Obama supporter who could assuage the disappointment of women who wanted the chance to vote for the first female president. (emphasis mine)

Bob Graham, ay? I think the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee in the run-up to the war, the guy who knew that the Bush Administration was lying and told his colleagues all about it, who voted against the authorization, is someone who would amplify that message on the war. He's beloved in Florida and that might help there, but that's not the point. Graham is very intelligent and provides an authoritative voice on foreign policy issues. I don't know that he's the best campaigner, but again I think that stuff is kind of overblown.

I think there are a lot of good choices, but I like the Graham idea, it's growing on me.