Honorable Mention: Bill Richardson

This goofy headline notes that Bill "Richardson claims first place among second-tier candidates." Whoopee! Of course, it's a year before even the primaries, and a lot can change. He's still got the best resume of the bunch, though I don't think that really gets you very far besides, say, first place among the second-tier candidates. Maybe Richardson would make for a good running mate to Obama. Don't laugh at the comparison here, but it would be like the way the Republicans sold the Bush/Cheney pairing back in 2000. Bush was supposedly the charismatic leader, and Cheney was the experienced guy who supposedly gave the ticket "gravitas." For better or for worse, at least Bush and Cheney have fairly well-defined roles to play in their administration. I was never clear on what Al Gore was supposed to be doing during his eight years as Veep besides being the less interesting version of Bill Clinton (which is part of why I've never been all that enthusiastic for the idea of Gore as President). If Obama gets the nomination, and he and Richardson work well together, they could make a great team: Obama would set the tone and state the goals, Richardson would make the plans, and Obama would be the communicator. It could work.