Democratic Veep Watch

Here is the August Prairie semi-educated Veep Watch Rankings. As usual, all predictions are guaranteed, or you get your money back.

Frontrunners

1. Kathleen Sebelius

2. Brian Schweitzer

3. Tim Kaine

4. Evan Bayh

Middle of the Pack

5. Jim Webb

6. Bill Richardson

Longshots

7. John Edwards

8. Hillary Clinton

9. Christopher Dodd

10. Wesley Clark

11. Russ Feingold

12. Ed Rendell

No Chance in Hell

13. Al Gore

14. Chuck Hagel

Hillary Clinton probably would have been in the middle of the pack until it was announced that Patti Solis-Doyle had been hired by Obama to be the as yet unnamed VP candidate's chief of staff. It is unlikely that her hiring would be a good sign for the "dream ticket" die hards.

I know there are some hopeless dreamers falling in love with an Obama/Hagel ticket, but that just won't happen. Hagel is a very conservative Republican who would not mesh with the Obama campaign. I know he has been a vocal critic of the Bush adminstration in regards to Iraq, but there are plenty of qualified Democrats that fit that profile as well.

Note: VP Watch Delayed until Next Week

Due to the absence of one of the contributors to August Prairie, we will be delaying the second Democratic and first Republican VP watch posts until next Tuesday and Wednesday. We apologize for the delay.

The VP Watch Begins

August Prairie will be starting a weekly feature from now until Senator Obama chooses his running mate. Once we get caught up with the GOP world, we'll also start watching McCain's potential running mates as well.

Senator Obama will most likely seal up the Democratic nomination tonight Therefore, tonight marks the beginning of the general election campaign. To mark that occasion, its time to begin the Vice Presidential Candidate Watch. For right now, we'll be watching seven potential candidates:

Governor Tim Kaine - Virginia

Governor Kathleen Sebelius - Kansas

Senator Evan Bayh - Indiana

Senator Hillary Clinton - New York

Governor Bill Richardon - New Mexico

Senator Jim Webb- Virginia

Senator Chuck Hagel - Nebraska

Each of these candidates has plusses and minuses, but the first four on the list appear to be much more likely than the last three. Richardson and Webb have some things in their past that would cause some potential harm, despite their definite benefits. Hagel is a Republican (and a conservative one at that) who would probably not accept the Vice Presidential bid if offered, which is highly unlikely.

That leaves the top four. My gut feeling is Kaine or Sebelius will be the choice for Obama, but political realities might force him to choose either Bayh or Clinton. I personally would prefer Clinton stays in the Senate and plays a significant role in getting legislation through during President Obama's tenure, but necessity might force his hand.

Next week we'll take a look at each of the seven candidates mentioned above, as well as three others that I have left off the list (for now).