The American Spectator

The Politico reports that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is “very, very high” on Obama’s short list for VP, while the Washington Post writes that Kaine has told associates he has had “very serious” discussions with Obama about the job.

By tapping the governor, Obama would be awarding Kaine for being the first high-profile public official to endorse him back in the days when Hillary Clinton was seen as the inevitable nominee. I remember going to a small-dollar fundraiser in Richmond with the both of them in May of 2007, and this June, right after he clinched the nomination, Obama held a large rally in Bristow, Virginia featuring Kaine and Jim Webb. Kaine fired up the crowd with a speech about how Obama would be the first Democrat to carry the commonwealth since 1964, while Webb gave a bizarre and depressing speech. Many of the Obama supporters I spoke to after said they would prefer to see Kaine as his running mate. While choosing Kaine would clearly be a play for Virginia, it’s also worth noting that Kaine grew up and went to high school and college in the ultimate bellwether state — Missouri.

The biggest downside to Kaine has to be the fact that he has even less foreign policy experience than Obama. Picking Kaine would mean doubling-down on the “change” theme, rather than choosing somebody more seasoned to help close the riskiness gap.