If it weren’t for this stuff, which also came up in ’06, I think I might be somewhat rabidly enthusiastic about Webb as a veep nominee, because I think he does an excellent job of communicating a national security/foreign policy viewpoint compatible with Obama’s (against dumb wars, strong enough to negotiate, etc.), and he’s done a great job of helpinf the Dems to own the ‘support-the-troops’ issue in the Senate. And of course Webb seems to connect on a visceral level with the working-class white folks Obama’s supposed to have trouble with. I really wish Webb had spent the last two years visibly working towards trying to clean the slate on women’s issues – spearheading the Ledbetter fix in the Senate, for example.

On the other hand, Edwards just strikes me as a complete nonstarter. We should install the veep off the last losing ticket? I have my own problems with Edwards – somehow a DLC democrat went into a phone booth in early 2005 and out came an alleged Progressive Superhero, and we’re all supposed to believe it despite his actual, y’know, voting record and his sponsoring the AUMF in the Senate – but on a more subtantive level the guy just does not impress as a campaigner. He can get the a fair number of Democrats in the primary (or could in 2004), but he seemed to have no positive impact on the Kerry ticket and his performance in the Veep debate was a huge disappointment – altohugh perhaps not a surprise, because it was the same marshmellow impression he’s almost always given.