how important is obama's veep choice?

so for all you supporters of barak hussein obama, how important is his selection of a vice-president going to be? what kinds of things are you looking for?

to me, given the fact that neither candidate (for different reasons) is really likely to finish out his term, the choice of a veep is a make or break decision but i want to know what the other side thinks.

I am not a supporter of Obama or McCain for that matter, but I am an American who will vote for who I perceive to be the "lesser of two evils" in the upcoming election. I think the Veep choice of Obama is very very important, more important actually than McCain's choice for a running mate. The reason I think Obama's choice is very important for the following reasons:
1)Obama lacks in foreign policy and foreign relations experience--and any real experience in fact, since he's only been in Congress since 04
2) According to insiders at the DNC, many "insider" democrats are unhappy because Obama wasn't properly vetted for the Presidency.
3) He needs a VP running mate who will bring back the large sect of the democratic party who are being peeled off the party in huge numbers this election season...the female vote between ages 35 and 55.
4) Obama also needs a strong running mate because sadly in the US racism is still a very real thing and in my opinion, there is a greater than normal chance that attempts will be made on his life not only because of his African-American heritage but also his Muslim ties thru his father and father's family.

Originally posted by Slothrop
so for all you supporters of barak hussein obama, how important is his selection of a vice-president going to be? what kinds of things are you looking for?

I'm not too concerned for myself who his choice VP will be. But I think who he chooses may affect how much support he gets. I would love to see him pick a Republican. Chuck Hagel or Jim Webb would be great choices.

I don't know Evan Bayh too well, yet, but I actually think he's too much like Obama. I think a little variety and difference of opinion would be good. I'm highly impressed with Kathleen Sebelius. But I don't think either of these two would appeal to people who are on the fence about Obama, so I'd rather he pick Hagel or Webb. Even though I don't agree with them on everything, I LIKE them as people.

It is very important. It's very important for McCain, too, but for Obama specifically.

He can't pick someone with so much experience that it overshadows him. They were talking about this on Meet the Press this morning, and it makes sense.

Everyone is talking about Obama's lack of experience, so how will it look if he picks a strong, knowledgeable, experienced Democrat for his VP? To some, it will look like Obama knows that he is lacking and is trying to make up for it with a very strong VP. It doesn't inspire much confidence in the person at the top of the ticket.

I don't want to see either candidate pick another Senator as a VP. I think that both need to pick a governer....it will help to balance out both tickets with at least some executive experience.