Elsewhere in the country, it was a good night for Democrats

Dallas Morning News | Carl P. Leubsdorf:

"And Democrats could do a lot worse than pick a moderate former Southern governor as a New York senator's running mate."

Governor Mark Warner of Virginia? Clinton/Warner? Another northeast liberal/southern moderate ticket for the Democrats in 2008? I don't think so. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina did nothing to help Massachusetts Senator John Kerry carry any southern states, even his own. Hillary Clinton is going to have to moderate her views to win over independents. Her views. Putting a moderate southerner on the ticket to showcase his moderate views won't do it. She may be tempted to go the other way and put a northern, liberal, African-American on the ticket to contrast with her own newly moderate views. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, maybe? (And Obama may be needed anyway to counteract a Republican move to put Condoleezza Rice on their ticket.)

As for Mark Warner, either he is going to have to win the top spot on the ticket for himself, or Democrats are better off leaving him off the ticket altogether. If Warner doesn't fall flat on the national stage, his background indicates he could be a formidable nominee. He provides a safe harbor for independents and Republicans disaffected by the incompetence shown by the Bush administration, but still solidly moderate at heart. If he can hold on to the blue states carried by Kerry and take two or three of the newly "purple" swing states like Virginia, Democrats might be inaugurating one of their own in January, 2009.