In which Stumper examines the Democratic nominee's possible--and not-so-possible--vice-presidential picks. (Previous McCain installments: Bobby Jindal; Mitt Romney; Charlie Crist; Tim Pawlenty; Rob Portman; Joe Lieberman; Tom Ridge. Previous Obama installments: Ted Strickland; Jim Webb; Wes Clark; Hillary Clinton; Kathleen Sebelius; John Edwards; Joe Biden; Tim Kaine; Evan Bayh.)

Name: Chet Edwards
Age: 56
Education: Texas A&M (undergrad), Harvard (business)
Resume: Former Texas state senator, current nine-term U.S. representative from Texas

Source of Speculation: The Associated Press. According to a breaking dispatch this morning from wire reporter Liz Sidoti, "little-known Texas congressman Chet Edwards is emerging as a finalist" with Obama's announcement only "hours away." According to "Democratic officials," "Edwards was one of the few Democrats whose background was checked by Obama's campaign."

Odds: Low--but anything could happen. Edwards's name first surfaced a few months thanks to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who told NEWSWEEK's very own Tammy Haddad on June 25 that "in the list of considerations there should be somebody from the House of Representatives"--and then named Edwards as "a person that many of us think would be a good person to be in the mix." Apparently, the Obama campaign agreed. On August 2, NEWSWEEK's Michael Isikoff reported that Edwards, a "genuine dark horse," had been quietly added to Obama's shortlist and that "his stock rose further, one source said, after a meeting with [the Democratic nominee]."

The case for Edwards is pretty clear. As chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, he has a solid military affairs background; as a Harvard Business grad and former small business owner (local Texas radio stations), he could connect with voters on the economy; and by winning eight congressional elections in an area of central Texas that's grown increasingly Republican over the past decade--a shift that included a failed effort by the Texas GOP to gerrymander him out of the seat--he's proven that he's exactly the sort of centrist Dem who can appeal to conservatives, moderates and working-class whites (his most famous constituent, incidentally, is some dude from Crawford named George W. Bush.) Youthful and unfamiliar enough to suggest "change," the thinking goes, but experienced enough to balance Obama's relatively skimpy resume; a red-blooded Texan complement to Obama's cerebral cool. That said, Edwards's drawbacks are just as obvious: no national profile, no home-state help, no real "stature," no excitement. Pairing an inexperienced senator with an unknown congressman wouldn't exactly reassure voters still wondering whether Obama is ready for the job. Also--and we're only half-kidding here--a bunch of Obama-Edwards signs, stickers, buttons and banners could give some folks the wrong idea.

For his part, Edwards isn't exactly playing it cool. When Pelosi first floated his name, the Texas rep quickly released a statement saying he was "humbled" that the Speaker "and others"--who they were, he didn't say--would suggest him as running mate for Obama. And as the Washington Post noted at the time, he attached a short bio "just in case any just in case anyone -- especially, say, a guy whose last name is Obama -- wanted to read about his qualifications." By July, Edwards had broken completely with veepstakes protocol and informed the Texas A&M college newspaper that he was ready to roll. "Would I serve if asked? Yes," he said. "It is a privilege just to be mentioned." We bet.

Name: Jack Reed
Age: 58
Education:  West Point (undergrad), Harvard (law, public policy)
Resume: U.S. army captain, three-term Rhode Island congressman, two-term Rhode Island senator

Source of Speculation: Mike Allen. In today's edition of Playbook--a morning round-up of political news and notes--the plugged-in chief political correspondent for Politico reminds his heavy-hitting Beltway readers that "when you're veeping on Intrade, don't forget Sen. Jack Reed." While Reed's name hasn't surfaced in most recent press accounts of Obama's Final Four--according to the Atlantic's Marc Ambinder, he wasn't vetted--the Rhode Islander has hovered on the periphery of the shortlist since accompanying Obama to Iraq last month, leading some observers to believe he could emerge as a eleventh-hour dark-horse pick.

Odds: For Secretary of Defense? Pretty good. For veep? Not so much. The chief source of Reed's appeal is his expertise on Iraq. Since voting in 2002 against the resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq--mirroring Obama's opposition and contradicting more likely veep contenders like Joe Biden and Evan Bayh--Reed has done more to shape the mainstream Democratic position on the war than any other legislator. He pushed for additional funding from the start. He has traveled regularly to the war-torn country, escaping the protective Congressional bubble to get the inside scoop from field officers and journalists, then producing lengthy reports and circulating among his colleagues on the Hill. For years, Reed has pushed an amendment to charge "the mission for U.S. troops from combat and security to counterterrorism and training," and he's long argued that "political changes by the Iraqi government were more important than military progress." As veep, Reed would got toe-to-toe with McCain on Mesopotamia and provide the ticket with some helpful foreign-policy heft. Coupled with his blue-collar Catholic upbringing (his father was a janitor), his dual Harvard degrees,  hiseight years as an Army Ranger and officer in the 82nd Airborne, and his expertise on housing policy, you can see why Reed would make an appealing running mate.

So what's the problem? Politics. A reliable New England liberal from a reliably blue state who has no national profile whatsover, Reed offers Obama little in the way of an electoral boost. Worse, he's uncharismatic surrogate and a reluctant attack dog--deadly deficits for a potential presidential partner, whose most important job is driving the message of the day. At no point was this clearer, as the New Republic's Jonathan Cohn recently reported, than during Reed's face-off last month against McCain loyalist Joe Lieberman on ABC News's "This Week." "Over and over again, Lieberman made harsh accusations about Obama--that Obama was irresponsible, radically changing his positions, etc.," Cohn wrote at the time. "And Reed seemed capable neither of answering those criticisms or launching similar ones against McCain." Cohn's conclusion--that "debating ability is an essential skill for the vice president... particularly for somebody like Obama, whose appeal rests in part on his ability to transcend (or, at least, to seem to transcend) such fights"--is absolutely correct. And that's the major reason I suspect Obama is likely to choose a foreign-policy pro like Biden, a cheery political pugilistic, over one like Reed, who seems better suited for the Cabinet.

Then again, the Illinois senator's mantra is "No Drama." So you never know.