Brawny man

Not that this is going to happen, but how cool would it be if Obama chose Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) as his running mate, and McCain countered with Bobby Jindal, a minority candidate from the South who, unlike McCain, has reliably voted conservative? It would be the all-macaca veepstakes!

As you know, Webb won office after Macacagate narrowly felled George Allen. As a Scots-Irish Virginian, Southerner and former Navy Secretary, Webb would add foreign policy credibility to the ticket and would help win over lower-income white men. Prior to his Senate run, he’d been out of Washington for some time; he’s as much an insurgent as Obama, in sync with the times. He’s been starkly against the Iraq war but has been a solid advocate for soldiers while in office. His son serves in Iraq now, and his family has long served in the military.

It’s helpful to have a VP who’s an attack dog in the general election. Webb is as much a curmudgeon as John McCain, and whomever McCain picks, Webb will probably be able to handle. He had a frosty exchange with Dubya when the frat-brother-in-chief tried to gladhand him about his son in Iraq.

Webb’s not perfect. He’s an ex-Republican (the best kind of Republican ), and he voted to give telecoms legal immunity for illegal wiretapping in the FISA bill. But as a Southern, white, Blue Dog-style Dem with military and foreign policy experience, and a reluctant warrior rather than McCain’s unabashed hawkishness, he balances the ticket well.

And both Webb and Obama are writers. Webb took bullshit conservative flak over sex scenes in his novel; Obama steamrollered Hillary’s nontroversy over speech help from his national co-chair, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. They might even get along.

See also the HuffPo’s take.

Previously: Jindal’s blitz, Dubya gets the vapors, Devil donkey, The new third rail, It all comes down to Macacagate, Webb exit poll oddities, Webb defeats Slurboy!, Vote for Webbro, Chillin’ with the macacas, Macaca challenger running Reagan ad