I think Gov. Mark Warner of VA will be on the Democratic ticket in '08

not necessarily as the presidential nominee, but I think if he performs credibly in the primaries and with his approval ratings in Virginia in the 70s--he will have an excellent chance to be the Democratic nominee for Vice President. Virginia is moving away from the Republicans and Gov-elect Kaine even won in some suburban counties which used to vote republican with regularity.

If you think of it he would be a good fit for nearly any potential nominee:

Clinton--She's from NY and he is from the old dominion.
Kerry--Again a Eastern/Southern ticket
Edwards--a NC/VA ticket would be a reminder of the Clinton/Gore (Ark/TN neighboring ticket)
Clark--Two southerners on the ticket can't hurt (again see Clinton-Gore).
Feingold--A progressive midwestern Senator with a moderate Democratic southern Governor.
Bayh--A moderate midwestern Senator with a moderate Democratic southern Governor.

And who knows? he might even do what another one-term southern governor did in 1976--win the Democratic nomination for president.

Kathleen Sebelius?

even with Sebelius (I may be wrong, but I doubt that) and we will carry Illinois with or without Obama. We need someone who will add a state to our electoral column.

Lots of stuff going on here and in Missouri (the Kansas City area).

win all of the Kerry states, plus Virginia. Then all the fraud in Ohio and Florida is for naught.

today at my exercise class.

I suppose the campaign will start seriously in about 2 years and the political climate can change a lot by then. But if Bush and Cheney are still in the White House then, Warner may well be our best candidate.

He will have 2 years to work on boning up on foreign policy. And to do the ground work necessary to be a serious presidential candidate.

I like some of the people you named but they all carry baggage, and Warner has none.

be from red states that they can win.

Kerry had 252 electoral votes in 04, if
Warner took those and added VA (13), he would only need 5 more electoral
votes (maybe New Mexico or Iowa, both of which Gore won) to be
President.

After reading your post, I would suggest a ticket of

Warner-Richardson or Warner-Vilsack.

I would like to see Kerry stay in the Senate. I would like to see Gore, Edwards, and Clark given important positions by the Dem president.

But I think we need fresh faces for the next election, assuming the political climate remains divided the way it is today.

I think Warner can honestly campaign on the theme of bringing the country together as well as bringing fiscal responsibility back.

I chose Richardson as a vice president because of his Hispanic background and the fact that he is governor of New Mexico. I chose Vilsack because he is the governor of Iowa and we would need someone strong to campaign in Minnesota, which has been voting for too many Republicans. I don't really know that much about either Richardson or Vilsack personally.

But I think it would be best for the country if the Dems didn't have a candidate tied any way, shape, or form to Iraq.

I think that if Richardson is the nominee we should make clear that our position on immigration is that we will focus on the employers who are hiring the illegals.

a Warner/Vilsack or Warner/Schweitzer ticket. Smart, well-spoken, self-made Tidewater Virginian with common sense Iowan or Montanan.