More Veepstakes Picks

Reihan argues that Obama should pick Webb. His bottom line:

The question is no longer whether Barack Obama should select Jim Webb as his nominee. It is whether he can justify not doing so. Even if Webb murdered someone in an alleyway in a fit of pique or been paid vast sums by the Chinese Politburo for detailed intelligence about American naval vessels, he would still be a far stronger and more appealing vice presidential nominee than Hillary Clinton.

Ambinder's shortlists for Obama and McCain are here. I'm increasingly leaning toward Hagel. Why? Because the one way the GOP can defeat Obama is by painting him into a box of alien, leftwing, radical, Wright-loving Democratic partisan. Obama has suffered in this campaign from a diminution of his post-partisan appeal. He needs foreign policy credibility against McCain; he needs a man who can rival McCain's veteran experience and who can make the case for a break from neoconservatism - as a conservative option. Obama needs no more liberal enthusiasm. He needs conservative ballast. And if you are going to go the Team Of Rivals route, picking a Republican as a vice-president would be ground-breaking.