Los Angeles Times

Barack Obama told a potential donor to his campaign that Hillary Rodham Clinton is on his list of possible vice presidential running mates, but that her husband's status as a former president makes matters "complicated."

The Hill

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will visit Afghanistan and Iraq, accompanied by two potential running mates, according to a source familiar with details of the trip.

The overseas trip will give Obama an opportunity to talk at length with Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.). The two men have been mentioned as potential running mates because they would bolster the Democratic ticket's foreign policy and military credentials.

The Hill

"You know, Sen. Hagel, he probably could serve in a Democratic administration because he's bipartisan," Richardson said Friday on Fox News. "I'm not saying VP, I'm just saying that he's a very valuable member of the Senate."

Richardson made the remark in response to a question about the chance that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) could choose Hagel as his running mate. The Nebraska senator, who shares Obama's opposition to the Iraq war, has not endorsed a candidate for president. Hagel told The Associated Press last month that he would consider joining the Democratic ticket if Obama offered him a spot.

Chicago Tribune's Steve Chapman

Gore would send the party's left wing into spasms of joy, but left-wing Democrats are not Obama's need--independent voters, many of whom voted for Bush, are. Gore has been able to demand drastic action on global warming because he's no longer running for office, allowing him to take positions that would be, well, overheated in a presidential campaign--particularly when you consider that climate change is not high on the list of voter priorities right now.

First Read

It's starting to leak out who's being vetted (Chris Dodd, apparently) and who isn't (Hillary Clinton and Tim Pawlenty -- really?). Of course, none of that leans one way or another to who is going to actually be picked. They could just not be vetted YET. Remember, there are a couple of short lists, the actual one and the one for public consumption, so Obama and McCain can politically pay back a supporter or two.

Hartford Courant

Sen. Joe Lieberman hasn't been shy criticizing Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting Barack Obama, but Friday he praised one of Obama's potential running mates, Sen. Christopher Dodd.

Lieberman said his Connecticut colleague "deserves" consideration by Obama for the Democratic ticket.

Newsweek's Eleanor Clift

Virginia Sen. James Webb made everybody's short list for vice president--except his own. He surprised the political world this week with a press release taking his name out of the running, a step that went beyond the coy expressions of disinterest expected from politicians who in reality are salivating for the job. His reasoning: he thinks he can accomplish more as a U.S. senator than he could as Barack Obama's running mate.