I've been thinking about this ever since Friday, when McCain announced his VP pick: Who do you believe would have been the equivalent of Gov. Sarah Palin in the Democratic Party?  

In other words, who could Obama have chosen for VP that would have fired up the liberal base like crazy with extreme left-wing views, but would also scare the hell out of moderates, centrists, and independents once their positions were widely known?  [And pump up conservative Republicans as well?]

Dennis Kucinich?  Mike Gravel?  I'd like to open this up to the MyDD community.  Any suggestions?  

How will you react?

Will it mean that Obama feels he doesn't have enough national security credibility and therefore needs to bring in a foreign policy "expert" to fill in those gaps in his resume?

Will Joe Biden be making all of the difficult foreign policy decisions in Obama's White House--a la Dick Cheney?

How does Joe Biden, who has worked in DC longer than any human alive, represent "change"?  Does Joe Biden's vote for the Iraq War muddle Obama's "judgment over experience" argument?  Is it important to be "right on day one"?

General Wesley Clark had a very curious response recently when asked by Alan Colmes on his radio show about possibly becoming Barack Obama's VP.  Here's my rough transcript:

Colmes: You know there's a lot of people who would like to see Barack Obama choose you as his running-mate.  Any chance of that happening?

Clark: You know I just I don't have a thing to say about it honestly.

Colmes: Ha ha.  Have you been vetted?

Clark: I just...I have no idea.  I have no knowledge of any of it.

Colmes: Really?  It would be a pretty good job right?

Clark: Well, I think it would be wonderful to be vice-president of the United States in principle.

Then Clark quickly changes the subject to the Georgia-Russia situation.  Does this mean anything?  I have no idea whatsoever.  It's interesting though, and I thought I would throw it out there.  I mean, Clark could have easily swatted down this VP speculation but he didn't.  Combine this with the Wednesday night theme of the Democratic Convention (honoring veterans, securing America, etc.) and there could be a discernible pattern here.

Hmmmm....

I was reading a VP discussion over at Ezra Klein's American Prospect blog and a commenter named "Mike B" made a very astute point about the prospect of choosing Sen. Evan Bayh as veep:

I think the veep choice is going to be a signal for how Obama feels about his own chances. If it's Bayh--the safest, blandest, least interesting choice possible, and someone who isn't a natural fit with his message or style--he's terrified that the race doesn't favor him. It's the kind of dumb decision made out of fear instead of rationality, and it's at the root of the problems that have been screwing up our party for decades.

I think this is exactly right.  To be sure, as the pundits and political junkies discuss Barack Obama's VP options, I just wanted to offer some (unsolicited) advice to the junior senator from Illinois: Trust your instincts.