VP Longshot Sebelius Offers Bipartisan Lure

Kathleen Sebelius, the dark horse among Barack Obama's potential running mates, is the best suited to carry his postpartisan torch, writes the New York Times. A popular Democratic governor in strongly Republican Kansas, her lieutenant governor is a Republican and she even married a GOP member. But Sebelius is a longshot because she has the same gaps in foreign policy and military experience as Obama, and many wonder whether choosing a woman would further alienate Hillary Clinton supporters.

"I love Kathleen Sebelius," Obama gushed last month, and her roots in the heartland could help the candidate to highlight his own Kansan roots. But the Catholic governor's moderate stance on abortion has angered the church, and Kansas has picked a Democratic president just once in 72 years. "If Obama were up 10 points, I think it would be very viable," said one professor. "But at 2 points up, she doesn’t bring anything, politically." (More Kansas stories.)