Richardson and Barbour

I wanted to point out that on last night's show on this country's energy crisis, Larry King hosted two potential vice presidential picks: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson appeared on Barack Obama's behalf, while Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour spoke for John McCain.

I have long thought that each of these guys would make great VPs for their party's candidates.

Richardson, a former presidential candidate himself and currently the governor of New Mexico, is an eloquent defender of Obama and his policies. As a Cabinet official in the Clinton Administration (he was the Secretary of Energy), Richardson is familiar with West Wing practices; as a former congressman, he's familiar with how things work on Capitol Hill; as former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., he's got impressive foreign policy credentials. Indeed, on paper, I thought Richardson had the best presidential resume coming into the Democratic primary.

Enter, big money in politics; exit, Bill Richardson.

Anyway, Richardson has some intangibles going for him in terms of veep positives: He's from the Southwest, where at least three states -- including his own -- are expected to be competitive; as a Hispanic American, he would help Obama reach out to that demographic; he has social policies that closely mirror Obama's; and after endorsing Obama and basically being publicly taken to the woodshed by Clinton kingmaker (and my fave pundit) James Carville, Richardson stood firm with Obama, thus demonstrating his loyalty even in the face of aggressive and personal attacks.

I couldn't figure out why the Democrats didn't get more excited about Richardson. He was far and away their most experienced, most capable candidate. If "ready to be president" is on the VP checklist at all, Richardson should be at the top.

Richardson has just one negative that I can see, but it's a big one: It's that fracture he had with Carville and the larger issue from which it sprung. Hillary Clinton supporters were outraged that Richardson endorsed Obama. They felt that Richardson was bound to endorse Hillary, since he had served in her husband's Cabinet. Loyalty is everything to the Clintons. When Richardson went with Obama, the Clintons took it as a personal affront. They didn't just see it as losing an endorsement. They saw it as being betrayed. Carville went Cajun-crazy on Richardson, comparing him to Judas (wait! Are the Clintons the Christ in that comparison??). As smart a pick on paper as Richardson would be, the unknown is how Clinton supporters would react to it -- not only because Richardson would be the pick, but because the pick wouldn't be Hillary. That might rip the scab off the Democratic Party's wounds and begin them bleeding anew ... definitely not what you want ahead of your convention.

So Obama most likely won't pick Richardson. And Obama will be weaker because of it.

On the Republican side, Haley Barbour seems like a no-brainer for John McCain. He's a capable Southern governor who has executive experience; as a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, he is a conservative stalwart who knows how to raise money; he's made the economy one of his top priorities, and he's achieved several successes in that area; his negatives, whatever they are, are limited to regional politics, where McCain will win anyway; and he showed during Hurricane Katrina that he knows how to govern in crisis. (On its third and most devastating landfall, Katrina actually ripped into the mainland on Mississippi soil, accompanied by a 20-plus storm surge that took out entire towns. (Click here for what had been the matter-of-fact, preliminary inventory of Katrina damage in Mississippi.) Do you remember hearing anything about the chaos and pandemonium and a dangerous free-for-all in what used to be Pass Christian, or what used to be Bay St. Louis, or what used to be Groveland or Ocean Springs or Long Beach or Waveland? No, and it's because capable leadership in crisis makes a difference. Mississippi had it in Haley Barbour; Ray Nagin's New Orleans and Michael Brown's FEMA didn't.)

In short, Barbour is capable enough to bring something to the ticket -- and to do the job if he had to -- but he didn't run for president himself, so there's no fear of the VP upstaging the Top Gun. And that's going to be important for McCain: Picking a VP who is younger and more charismatic than he (Charlie Crist, anyone?) will only serve to remind people that McCain is neither -- and that's not a good plan when you're already scheduled to be on the debate stage three times against arguably the most charismatic candidate since Kennedy (sorry, Bill Clinton fans). And, if all that isn't enough, there is even an organized group pushing for his selection -- and they've managed to raise enough money to put together a TV ad that's running in Jackson, Miss., and Phoenix, Ariz. -- the home of one Republican presidential nominee-to-be. How's that for grassroots?

Barbour has a couple of negatives, though both are minor comparatively speaking: He's sometimes butted heads with McCain, though Barbour is campaigning hard for McCain now. And Barbour has a dearth of foreign policy experience. But it's not likely that last component will matter much; it's doubtful McCain is looking for help in foreign policy.

Barbour probably won't be the pick, either. But it won't be because McCain will be able to find someone better.