The Virginia Trio

According to Politico, Virginia has three prominent Democrats who all get talked up as potential running mates for Sen. Obama. Governor Tim Kaine, US Senator Jim Webb, and former governor and US senate candidate Mark Warner.

About Kaine:

Kaine is thought to be the least likely of the three to end up as Obama’s running mate. He is not considered as able as Warner to deliver the state, and he doesn’t address Obama’s weaknesses on defense policy and national security. Another drawback is that Kaine’s departure would hand Republicans the governorship because Virginia’s lieutenant governor is a Republican, Bill Bolling.

About Warner:

Warner might be the best known of the trio after exploring his own presidential run this election cycle. Elected in 2001 with unusually high support for a Democrat in rural portions of the state, Warner left the governorship four years later with an 80 percent approval rating, making him one of the most popular governors in the commonwealth's history.

“If the goal is to carry Virginia, the best pick would be Mark Warner,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.

Warner’s moderate approach and unique entrepreneurial background — he earned tens of millions in the telecommunications industry — would likely appeal to swing voters and business-minded independents who have leaned Republican. And his NASCAR politics and proven ability to win rural votes could help offset Obama’s weaknesses among rural and small-town voters.

About Webb:

Webb is a former Marine and Ronald Reagan’s secretary of the Navy, and his military experience would compensate — as much as a vice president can — for Obama’s national security inexperience. Webb, a decorated Vietnam War veteran like John McCain, would also offer Democrats a clear and unified contrast to McCain in the debate over the war in Iraq. Both Obama and Webb were against it from the outset.

“Webb really fills Obama’s need for someone who has been around Washington for a long time, is a war hero, clearly understands foreign affairs,” Sabato said. “But I don’t think Webb would turn Virginia.

“It’s a miracle that Webb won at all, and 90 percent was George Allen falling apart,” Sabato added. Allen never recovered from his "macaca" remark about a young opposition campaign volunteer; Webb defeated him by 7,000 votes.