Theories abound about what qualities Barack Obama and John McCain should be looking for in a running mate. Does Obama need someone who'd bring instant credibility on national security and foreign policy to off-set McCain's charges of inexperience and naïveté? How important is it for McCain, 24 years Obama's senior, to fill out his ticket with someone considerably younger?  read more »

A post on The New Republic's blog The Plank cites "a rival campaign operative" taking issue with John Edwards's promise that, as the Democratic nominee, he'll win multiple Southern states. The operative supports this note of skepticism by pointing to the anemic performance of the Kerry-Edwards ticket in North Carolina, where President Bush won 56 percent of the vote.

I too have doubts about Edwards' ability to deliver so sweepingly in the south; his message seems more likely to resonate in the Rust Belt than in the Sun Belt. That said, it's questionable at best to bring up figures from 2004, because Vice-Presidential candidates simply do not have a measurable impact on the final vote count.

After all, remember Lloyd Bentsen?  read more »