That's the Ticket

David Broder from the Washington Post has an Op Ed piece on Senator Chuck Hagel potentially being a running mate if Bloomberg changes his mind and runs for President. A Bloomberg Hagel ticket is an interesting pairing. It got me thinking of potential other pairings for the current batch of front runners.

Here's my guess on who each of the front runners will choose:

Democrats
Hillary Clinton- Bill Richardson. I have believed from the beginning that Governor Richardson is only running for President to raise his profile for an eventual spot on a Clinton ticket. New Mexico is a big swing state, plus he could help with Florida. Richardson was US Secretary of Energy under Clinton 1.

Barack Obama- Joe Biden. Biden give Obama the Foreign policy gravitas that would be a good compliment for him. Biden also has a lot of Washington insider experience necessary to push through Obama's agenda. John Kerry could be an interesting pairing as well. Not sure if JK's ego will let him settle for number 2.

John Edwards - Mark Warner. As the current Gov of Virginia, Warner could give Edwards some executive experience. More importantly Warner could help deliver Virginia which has become increasingly blue over the past few years due to demographic shifts. Warner could also be a good compliment to Obama, but Obama needs someone to offset his perceived experience shortcomings.

Republicans
Rudy Guiliani - Mike Huckabee. Mike Huckabee on the ticket would be Rudy's sacrifice for the Christian right. He's a low enough profile that he will not challenge Rudy's ego unlike Tancredo or Brownback. If Rudy shows an independant streak and doesn't want to pander by selecting Huckabee, a better choice for his administration could be Hagel.

Fred Thompson - Mitt Romney (and vice versa). Good compliments for each other in terms of ideology. The biggest challenge for each of them is that neither of them have a reputation of being hard workers. Romney gives Thompson a small chance at possibly capturing some New England states. Begs the question, could Mitt Romney capture Massachusetts in the general election against any of the top 3 Dems?

John McCain- Mike Huckabee or Tom Tancredo. Tancredo could be a choice for McCain to try to appease the right on the immigration issue. McCain has taken a very unpopular stance with his party on this issue and could 'make nice' by picking an immigration zealot like Tancredo. Huckabee would also be a good choice.