Kathleen Sebelius is going to endorse Barack Obama, and some are speculating on whether she might find herself on an Obama-headed ticket. There are the obvious points in her favor that fit in quite well with Obama's style: she knows how to win crossover voters (and Republicans in particular) and she's built some impressive coalitions. Plus, it's a bit of a consolation prize for women that were set on having a woman in the White House--having one at the Naval Observatory is not the same, but it's not nothing. Plus, she's eminently qualified. It would be a good choice, and it might bring Kansas into the Dems' column--as a whole, the state is more moderate than one might think. The reason why right-wing politics are ascendant there is because the conservative wing of the GOP in Kansas has a stranglehold on the party (as in most places), and there are more Republicans than Democrats.
To some extent, though, there are a lot of variables to consider in the VP process that just aren't known yet. One of these is who the GOP candidate is going to be. If it's Romney, picking Sebelius and having a ticket with more executive experience seems like the right move. If it's McCain, picking Jim Webb would be the optimal choice, as his bio syncs nicely with Obama's message too, and adding Webb might seem reassuring to people who might be worried that Obama is too dovish. The best thing about Webb is that he seems like a hawk, but he's really not. Despite allegedly still thinking that Vietnam was a good idea, Jim Webb has opposed war in both Iraq and Iran, and he was right on both. But he exudes a certain amount of toughness and confidence that Democratic politicians don't often seem to want to do. Joe Biden would also make a decent choice, for some of the same reasons.
This might be backward, and it might be that Obama picking Webb when up against McCain might only serve to outline Obama's lack of experience in military matters. Maybe it's the other way around. In any event, I do find it interesting that both of the GOP frontrunners have significant built-in flaws: Romney has no experience with foreign affairs, McCain has no executive experience. Both of those issues have traditionally tended to advantage Republicans. If either one gets the nomination, the resulting general election campaign will necessarily have to be different from those in recent history. It should be fun to watch.
