Loose Cannon has sensed from comments to previous posts that our loyal readers are less interested in post-mortems about the Hillary Clinton campaign than in looking ahead to the 2008 general election. Very well. Let’s ignore the fantastic scoop by Joshua Green in the new Atlantic Monthly, and talk about who Barack Obama should choose as his running mate.

Let’s stipulate for a minute that Obama doesn’t choose Senator Clinton. Not that he shouldn’t, it just doesn’t feel as though he’s heading in that direction—although selecting the candidate who ran second to you makes some sense. Ronald Reagan did it in 1980, which worked well: Reagan/Bush got three terms in the big job between them.

The other, less happy, example was John Kerry in 2004. Unimpressed by the field he trounced, Kerry reached out to John McCain as a running mate. Rebuffed, Kerry settled for a guy he had deep doubts about, John Edwards, who ran second to him in primary after primary. If you want to know why Kerry had those doubts, click here, although I may as well tell you: It has nothing to do with sex. Anyway, the Kerry/Edwards team earned zero terms in the White House.

But back to Obama and his choice. I’ll cut to the chase: We’ve heard many names bandied about, but one makes more sense to me than the others. I’m talking about Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh.

My reasons, and I’ve got six or seven of them, are as follows: First, Bayh possesses the traditional qualifications that Obama lacks, having served two terms as governor, and nearly ten years representing the Hoosier State in the Senate. Second, Bayh is popular in Indiana, which Obama himself has noted, and he immediately puts a reliably “red” state in play. Third, he is a centrist, both in terms of policy, and by temperament. His natural way of running for office is not to tear his opponent down, meaning he fits into the upbeat Obama campaign narrative. Fourth, he appears to be a good family man—I know, I know, you don’t ever know for sure—but this guy seems like a grown-up Boy Scout, and in a good way. Reason number five, and this is as subjective as the others, I realize: A Bayh pick would have the feel of Bill Clinton’s 1992 successful choice of Al Gore.

Just as Obama and Bayh would represent the Midwest, Clinton and Gore were two southerners, of a similar age, height, and outlook. Bayh is reminiscent of Gore in other ways, too. As the sons of U.S. Senators, they both attended St. Albans prep school, and really grew up in Washington, D.C. as much as in their home states. That might actually help Obama govern: He is even more of an outsider than Clinton was in 1992—and less experienced. Does that count as reason number six? A brief digression here: Evan Bayh’s dad is Birch Bayh, who ran for president once and who is remembered—at least by me—for having the greatest campaign jingle in history. Sung to the tune of the old Broadway number, Hey, Look Me Over, it went, “Hey, look me over, I’m your kind of guy. First name is Birch, and my last name is Bayh…” The idea was to help voters know how to pronounce his name. (It’s “Bye.”)

Okay, reason seven: Evan Bayh is close to both Clintons, and after toying with the idea of running in 2008 himself, was an early and ardent supporter of Hillary’s presidential campaign. His choice as Veep might not appease disillusioned feminists, but could mollify the Clintons themselves, and help heal the rift in the Democratic Party. When Bill Clinton was president and I was covering the White House, he once touted Bayh to me as someone to watch for higher office someday. That was a dozen years ago. Bayh may not have been ready then; he certainly seems so now.