Veepstakes speculation already rife

Both parties are pretty clear on their 2008 presidential nominees: John McCain for the GOP and Barack Obama for the Democrats.

The real question is who each will nominate for vice president. It is made to sound like a big horse race, but in truth, whoever the presidential candidates asks for, he'll get. They judge the need for geographical balance, age balance, gender balance, etc. and tell the convention who they want.

The wrong choice can be disasterous, as George McGovern found out with Thomas Eagleton, and Walter Mondale with the lighweight congresswoman from New York--in 1986, the nation wasn't ready for a woman.

To me, its fairly simple: Obama cannot expect to win and chuck all tradition to the wind. He will select a white male. It won't be Hillary or New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson--the first serious Hispanic presidential candidate. Probably he will pick out a Governor, probably older than he is. Somone like Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (allthough he's backing Hillary), Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendle, or someone from the South or West. Probably not a fellow Senator.

72-year-old John McCain: He will be looking for someone younger, undoubtedly a Governor, and not from the West. The most often mentioned are Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, or if he decides he needs a female, Gov. Sarah Pallin of Alaska. If he decides he needs to balance Obama, maybe Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice or Gen. Colin Powell. I'm betting on Pawlenty, as he's been a McCain guy all along, at 47 is young and moderately conservative and has won elections consistently in a Democratic state. He is very handsome, well spoken and charismatic.

All bets could be off, though, as McCain is a real maverick and Obama has a much less obvious choice to make than McCain. Afterall, who would ever have guessed Dick Cheney in 2000--a bald, aging, poor speaker with a dour personality from a state with 3 electoral votes? Go figure.