Although Obama is still a length away from choosing his VP, I believe most of the best and most logical candidates have already been named.. Thus, here are my favorite 5 (according to personal preference, not necessarily viability) and then those who are more unlikely. On the bottom are the 6 most likely candidates as of now:

1) Bill Richardson – Governor of New Mexico. I don’t think Obama can find a better fit, Richardson fills in almost every hole Obama has! He has extensive foreign policy experience (former Ambassador to the UN under Bill Clinton), he helps win the swing state of NM, he helps win over the hispanic vote, and he helps a little with blue collar voters. The only way he could be better was if he was a woman with the last name Clinton! Richardson could be of help in any state with a large hispanic population (like FL), and he seems to work pretty well with Obama. I watched his endorsement of Obama, and although he had trouble in his own campaign candidacy, I think he brought a lot of excitement, personality, and passion during his endorsement speech that would would help on Obama’s campaign trail. There are 2 downsides to Richardson: 1) The possibility that he not be as exciting as Obama would like, but I think Obama brings enough excitement to the ticket for both of them. 2) He is pretty liberal Governor which won’t help with Obama’s already liberal voting record.

2) Chuck Hagel – Senator of Nebraska. First off, Hagel is a moderate Republican. He is adamantly against the war in Iraq, but still is lengths away from the Democratic Obama. I would personally love to see Hagel on the ticket: he shows that Obama is sincere about being bipartisan, he will balance Obama’s “liberalism” (according to a report, Obama was the most liberal Senator according to his voting record last year. I guarantee McCain will use this), and he will bring a large amount of foreign policy experience to balance out Obama’s weakness in that area. Hagel also helps with economic issues and blue collar workers. Lastly, Hagel recently co-sponsored the recent GI Bill that McCain has denounced; putting him on the ticket could be a really big hit against McCain and his senior citizen/GI voters. The biggest problem is if something happens to Obama, what will people think/say when a Republican suddenly jumps to the highest office in the land? Its also doubtful that Hagel will break with his good friend John McCain.

3) Evan Bayh – Senator of Indiana. Bayh is also the former Governor of Indiana and has a lot of support in the state according to opinion polls. As Indiana is a swing state, currently leaning Republican, Obama could use some help making it blue this Fall. As a Senator though, Bayh could be a liabiliity – and there is not reason to believe he will definitely bring his home state with him. He is currently on the armed services committee, but it is doubtful that the Senator has enough foreign policy experience to truly help Obama go head to head with McCain. Still, he definitely deserves recognition; and as a widely considered moderate, he would help Obama with Independents, Republicans, and blue collar workers. Lastly, he endorsed Clinton, so he may help Obama pick up Clinton supporters.

4) Joe Biden – Senator of Delaware. Biden brings many years of experience in politics and foreign policy. He is the Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and a former Presidential candidate. Although he has many good things, he also brings a lot of baggage to the campaign and multiple failed attempts for President. He is a good speaker, but he has also been critical of Obama in the past and may not be the wisest choice in the end.

5) General Zinni – Retired general. A 4-star general in the U.S. Marine Corps, he was the former Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command. He vocally opposed the Iraq War from the beginning and would bring much foreign policy experience to the table. He is also from PA, which could help Obama. But in the end, he doesn’t really have any political experience and might not be a full enough asset.

Other Choices –

Jim Webb – Senator from Virginia. Although Webb’s name has been tossed around, I highly doubt he’ll be chosen. He has been in the Senate less then Obama (not helping Obama’s political inexperience) and has said many controversial statements in the past. On the plus side, Webb will help with foreign policy experience and will help with southern and blue collar voters. He also is from Virginia, which could help win a very difficult swing state (but probably not). He was the Secretary of the Navy under Reagan, so he might help with Republican voters as well. Lastly, Webb is one of the head sponsors of the GI Bill that McCain will get a lot of slack for in the coming months. Putting Webb on the ticket will force McCain to give a real explanation as to why he didn’t support it.

Hillary Clinton – Senator of New York. Obviously the only reason to pick Clinton would be to keep party unity after a hard fought primary battle. Clinton would help secure blue collar voters, women voters, and senior citizen voters. With Clinton’s popularity and name, she wouldn’t be needed in NY, but she would help in many other states like OH, FL, and others (however how much she would help beyond what would happen if she wasn’t picked is up to debate. I would argue that its less then many would expect). Hillary brings along experience and also her very popular husband Bill (whether thats good or bad is also up to debate, for now I think Bill’s name is still in very high standing). Clinton however is a very polarizing figure. She wouldn’t help much with Obama’s liberalism nor foreign policy deficiency. She also brings a lot of baggage, not to mention the two of them don’t seem to get along very well; I’m sure sessions of Obama and Clinton fighting will be brought up if she is picked. Lastly, she doesn’t carry the same message of change that Obama has, it wouldn’t be a very congenial team. Nor does she really help much in the end with the electoral map… As a result, Obama would probably only pick Clinton if he was forced to in order to unify the party; but if he is ahead by around 10% or more after the bump, then there is no reason to pick her.

Ed Rendell – Governor of Pennsylvania. Rendell was a prominent Clinton supporter, thus putting him on the ticket would help the unity along. Also, he helps keep PA on the Democrats side come November. Lastly, Rendell helps bring blue collar workers as well as Jewish voters to Obama – two groups of people that Obama has been having great difficulty wooing. He is also a well-spoken intelligent man who could be of great help as a VP. The biggest problem of Rendell is that he brings no foreign policy/national security experience to the table – Obama’s biggest weakness against McCain.

Sam Nunn – Former Senator of Georgia. He is the CEO of Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), and was considered a conservative Democrat while in office. But it doubtful that Nunn would help Obama very much in securing GA, if such a thing can be done. He’s also been out of politics for many years, so who knows if he would accept or how ready he would be. He does bring a lot of foreign policy experience on board and probably helps once against with the South and blue collar workers, but his pros don’t really outdo the pros of other candidates who help more politically.

Timothy J. Roemer – Former Congressman from Indiana. He is now the President of Center For National Policy (CNP). It is doubtful that Roemer would really push Obama over the edge in Indiana. He does however have a lot of knowledge in foreign policy and was considered a moderate Democrat – thus helping Obama with moderates and conservatives. He is very intelligent and would also help with blue collar workers. Lastly, he was a big supporter of Obama during the primary and strongly campaigned for him.

Kathleen Sebelius – Governor of Kansas. Sebelius probably would not be able to deliver a win in Kansas, nor does she help Obama in foreign policy experience. She could help with women, but if thats the only pro then he’d do better with Clinton (and Clinton supporters might be pissed if Obama picker her over Clinton). She might help with bipartisanism, but she doesn’t help Obama enough to be a strong consideration. She did endorse him early on, but she also is against gay marriage and brings some interesting views to the gun control debate.

Chris Dodd – Senator of Connecticut. Some Republicans believe that CT is a swing state. I don’t see it, but Dodd would ensure it wasn’t. He is a Senior Senator and on the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Although Dodd is a good Senator, he doesn’t help Obama very much in the general election. He doesn’t help with Obama’s liberalism, nor does the fact that he is also a Senator. He doesn’t add a large background of foreign policy credentials, nor does he really help on the electoral map. Although I like Dodd, I don’t see what he practically can bring to the Obama campaign.

Wesley Clark – Retired General. Obviously this would shore up Obama’s foreign policy credentials. He also has some campaign experience and endorsed Clinton, which would help unify the party if Obama picked a Clinton supporter. The issue is that he doesn’t really bring anything to the electoral map, nor does he bring much politically – he is simply a war general, not to mention that there might be a little dirt that the McCain camp will be able to dig up later. Also, there is no definite answer to whether he would accept the VP spot even if he was asked.

Brian Schweitzer – Governor of Montana. Schweitzer currently has on of the highest gubernatorial ratings. Although I still find it highly unlikely, he could possibly make MT a swing state since Obama did win it in the primaries. He was part of Clinton’s Department of Agriculture and would help Obama greatly with blue collar workers and possibly some Independents and Republicans. In the end, Schweitzer still doesn’t help much with foreign policy though.

UNLIKELY –

Tim Kaine – Governor of Virginia. Although Virginia is a swing state, its leaning to McCain and there isn’t any evidence that Kaine would definitively bring his state over to the Democrats. Once again, he also doesn’t bring any real foreign policy credentials to Obama’s side.

Mark Warner – Former Governor of Virginia. I would say about the exact same thing as I said about Tim Kaine. Although Warner was a potential 2008 candidate, he decided not to run. He also may be seeking the open Senate seat, which would pretty much take him off the VP list.

Mike Easley – Governor of North Carolina. Easley also doesn’t help with foreign policy experience, and it would still be very difficult/unlikely for NC to come over to the Democrats come November. He would probably help with blue collar voters and Clinton supporters (he endorsed Clinton), but he still doesn’t bring enough to the table.

Lincoln Chafee – Former Senator of Rhode Island. He is a former Republican who went Independent. He doesn’t really help with the electoral college, but he could help with Republicans and Independents. He also has joined a pro-Israel lobbying group which could help Obama on the Jewish vote. However, he might be looking towards Governor or to the Senate in Rhode Island. He also doesn’t bring any foreign policy experience either.

Janet Napolitano – Governor of Arizona. Obama isn’t going to win Arizona. Napolitano has high gubernatorial ratings and would help very much in the South, but as a woman she still doesn’t have the pro’s that Clinton would automatically bring. She doesn’t have foreign policy experience and she can’t deliver her home state. In the end, although a great Governor, she doesn’t seem to bring enough to Obama’s ticket.

Colin Powell – Former Secretary of State/War General. Powell, a Republican and former Bush Administration official, has expressed some interest in Senator Obama. Although far from an endorsement, Powell remains a highly popular figure and would greatly help with foreign policy experience as well as getting moderates and Republicans. There is no reason yet to believe Powell would serve with Obama yet, but the idea is definitely out there. One must keep in mind however that Powell is African American, and realistically that is a political negative. But in the end, if Powell was willing to serve, he could make a great VP and a powerful ally in the election. For now though, this is a far off idea…

Ted Strickland – Governor of Ohio. Strickland could immensely help Obama win over blue collar/socially conservative voters. Best of all, he could help secure Ohio for the Democrats, which could once again be the turning point for the election. Thus politically, Strickland is a great choice. The problem for Obama is that he doesn’t add very much on foreign policy experience and thus would probably be seen mostly as a political choice only (which Obama would not like to be viewed as). Lastly, Strickland has recently said very clearly that he wouldn’t accept the post of VP.

John Edwards – Senator of North Carolina. Edwards was the running mate of John Kerry back in 2004 and he had an unsuccessful run for President this year of 2008. Although I like Edwards and he would help in the state of North Carolina and with blue collar voters, he doesn’t do much to help Obama’s foreign policy credentials and it doesn’t seem like he has much interest in running for VP again, he has already said no very loudly…

Al Gore – Former VP. This is just wishful thinking. Gore is not going to go on the campaign trail for VP again when he already was VP and already ran for President.

Once again, I’m going to put below who I think are the most likely candidates for Obama to pick as his VP. If I left out anybody who you think should be added, just post underneath…

1) Bill Richardson
2) Evan Bayh
3) Jim Webb
4) Hillary Clinton
5) Ed Rendell
6) General Zinni