Obama/Warner

Mark Warner is the perfect VP choice for Obama. He's a phenomenally popular white Southern Democrat. When his term as governor of Virginia ended, he left office with approval ratings near 80%. He's done the "real change" thing - he had to, to put up those MVP numbers as the blue leader of a red state.

Warner should also meet with the approval of the business community, because he's been there, done that, too. Before he went into politics, he was a telecom entrepreneur, and he made a few hundred million. And he has some stature on the national scene. A couple of years ago, he was on the cover of the Sunday Times Magazine as a potential presidential candidate.

The downside? Warner is running for the Senate against Jim Gilmore. Odds are Warner will trounce Gilmore, so any Warner change in plans is very much to Gilmore's benefit. And "Senator Jim Gilmore" sounds very scary - he has Bush's skills coupled with a mean, nasty vision. But a Warner vice-presidency might cement 16 years of Democratic control of the White House. That would be almost enough time to repair the damage.