Lots of talk swirling around the campaign about potential Veeps for Obama, while Hilla flails away avoiding the inevitable. Ironic, no? Leftcoast and Josh take a look at potential VP candidates and the criteria which Obama should apply in choosing his Number 2.

Point: Leftcoast says: OK, conventional wisdom calls for Hlilla to be grafted to the ticket as part of a contrived kumbaya move to unite the party. There are worse choices. But if Hilla’s off the table, which I believe she is, who best serves the ticket? For me, the answer is flat-out obvious. White. Male. Southern. Military. Running Obama with a woman or another ethnic or religious minority is a compound felony in my book, further marginalizing Obama, and feeding that Pug mythology that McCain is the only patriotic choice. My bottom line is that this is no time to hold hands and road-test the Rainbow Coalition.

Back to my ideal Obama Veep. All of the attributes listed above buttress Obama’s real and perceived weaknesses, and get right to the heart of McCain’s tough talk value proposition. If the Veep is the hit man for the president, think Jim Webb. If Obama thinks he needs some “gray hair” on the ticket, I’d take a good look at Wes Clark. I’d avoid non-entities like Evan Bayh or favorite du jour Ted Strickland, and controversial characters like Michael Bloomberg, or (God save us) Diane Feinstein. Nope. We need a guy who’s been shot at, who knows what it really means to send our kids to die and who can pop Uncle Fester right in the chops when he spews that sanctimonious “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran, my friends” shit.

Counter Point: Josh Hammond says: The minute Obama announces who he has chosen as VP, everyone needs to know instantly who that person is and why he or she was chosen. No Geraldine Ferraros or Joe Liebermans this time. Obama needs to pick someone from outside Washington to complete his case for change. He needs to pick someone with “experience” and accomplishments. Finally, he needs some classic political and geographic balance or rationale.

Who then? The pool should include Clinton supporters Bob Rubin, former CEO of Goldman Sachs and Bill Clinton economy wizard, and Ed Rendell, now Governor of Pennsylvania (a must state). Among Obama supporters, Bill Richardson (for western states and Hispanic vote, and possible Secretary of State because of his Spanish language skills — wow! a bi-lingual spokesman for America?!), or Kathleen Sebelius (two-term governor of Kansas with strong Ohio roots) to hold Clinton’s woman coalition together. I would not put Webb on the short list because he is a freshman senator with some Reagan baggage. He is former classmate of Oliver North, and he was around for the Iran-Contra business. Although to his credit, Reagan did let him go because he refused to cut back on the size of the Navy. So Webb doesn’t meet my criteria. General Wesley Clark would be a good choice, but let’s hope he has brushed up on the “A” part of the media’s Q&As that hurt him four years ago.