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The following post was written for Liberal Conspiracy.

Running Mates are often seen as crucial to a nominee’s chances of winning a general election. George W. Bush, as we know, chose the vastly experienced Dick Cheney as his running mate in 2000, an appointment which has seen the hawkish, Nebraska-born former congressman from Wyoming, become arguably America’s most influential Vice President in history. Ironically, it was Cheney’s job to brief Bush on possible Veeps, only for Bush to surprise everyone by rejecting Cheney’s recommendations, and asking him to fill the ticket himself. How much influence strategist Karl Rove had on the decision is unclear.

Vice Presidential hopefuls have run on the same ticket as wannabe Presidents since 1804 (prior to this date, the losing candidate would assume the VP’s role). In early times the “Ticket Balance” was used to assuage the North/South divide. This changed after the Civil War, but nevertheless, nominees continue to use their choice of Running Mate to massage worries within the electorate.

Posters on this blog have already swooned over the possibility of an Obama-Edwards ticket, but if Obama has a weakness, it’s his perceived inexperience. Edwards offers little in this respect, beyond his own VP run alongside John Kerry in ‘04 (it should also be noted that Edwards’ head-to-head debate with Cheney was called in favour of the latter). I expect Obama to pick an older statesman, someone like Bill Richardson who has vast experience, both as an executive and in Washington (he would also be very handy in attracting the Spanish vote). Richardson, like Joe Biden, is also a foreign policy heavyweight, something the Democratic trio of stars will have to consider whichever gets the nomination.

Other possibilities not to be ignored are Gen. Wesley Clark, former Virginian governor Mark Warner, and the increasingly independent Mike Bloomberg (the incumbent NYC Mayor would come at an incredibly high price though).

Obama is a long way away from securing the nomination, so it’s worth considering who the other Democratic frontrunners would chose…