Obama's VP

(Potential candidates will be given points from -10 to 10 in dominations of 5 pending on their particular stances in regard to the campaign.)

1) Jim Webb (+25)
Pros:
o Military: Webb’s strong military background and experience can match up against McCain’s and rebuke most arguments militarily. (+10)
o Post-partisan: Webb, being a former Republican and serving as Reagan’s Secretary of the Navy, can further push Obama’s message of reaching across party lines. (+10)
o Location: Being a senator from Virginia, Webb holds power in a recently red-state that Obama has his eye on turning blue. Since Obama’s only trailing McCain, on average, by approximately 6% in Virginia, Webb can help him get pushed over the top; 13 electoral votes could make or break the election. However, it is not a typical swing-state, so there’s no telling how much money the Obama campaign is willing to spend there. Webb was also born in Missouri, where he could hold a mild advantage for Obama in an important 11 electoral vote state. (+10)
o Attack Dog: Webb can be very efficient at playing the role of the popular Vice Presidential “attack dog.” Webb staying primarily on the attack against McCain will allow Obama to take the high road and stay above the fray. (+5)
o Pro-Gun: Consistently been a 2nd amendment advocate and could help with the southern, conservative Democrat demographic. (+5)
Cons:
o “Women Can’t Fight”: Obama is going to struggle in the beginnings of the general election campaign convincing women to join his campaign after heated exchanges with Senator Clinton. Webb has taken heat before from women for contributing to ‘an atmosphere of hostility and harassment’ towards women at the academy. However, Webb was later endorsed by nine military women who stated that Webb is a "man of integrity" who "recognizes the crucial role that women have in the military today." (-5)
o Attack Dog: The attack dog has negative sides to it as well. Not only Obama, but also the entire Obama campaign is supposed to be seen as above normal politics and to have a surrogate constantly campaigning negatively could take a toll. Also, this role for Webb could pose some problems, because he’s known to get a little out-of-control as attack dogs go. (-5)
o Senator Webb: It is extremely unusual for two senators to compete in a general election, but not unusual to pick a senator as your vice president. Two people on the ticket with no governing experience may pose a problem and, if McCain were to pick a VP with governing experience, the Obama campaign would never hear the end of it. (-5)