OK, time for some more VP speculation. Caveat: it's via Robert Novak, but interesting nonetheless:

Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, a strong favorite to be elected to the Senate this year, has told associates that he is being considered as Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate. He did not indicate whether he would be receptive to such an offer.

Removing Warner from the campaign for the seat now held by retiring Republican Sen. John Warner (no relation) would turn a sure Democratic takeover to a question mark. Mark Warner is heavily favored against the Republican nominee, former Gov. Jim Gilmore, but no substitute Democratic candidate is at hand.

Although no Democratic presidential nominee has carried Virginia since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, Democrats see the state as being in play for the 2008 election and would like to see a Virginian on the national ticket. Both current Gov. Tim Kaine and freshman Sen. Jim Webb have been mentioned, but neither possesses Warner's prestige.

There's no doubt Warner would be a frontrunner, maybe THE frontrunner, if he wasn't running for Senate. He was the favored nominee for many before suddenly withdrawing from the race last year, and would be an ideal standard bearer for the Dems moving forward IMO. He's charismatic and brings economic and executive leadership to the ticket (although not foreign policy) and helps further the outsider theme. He's got a 62% approval rating in Virginia (compared to  only 47% for Webb).

Picking him would turn the Senate run into a question mark as Novak says, but so does picking Webb, longer term. So does his Senate run make him a nonstarter? Would having Warner on the ticket as VP basically ensure a Dem win anyway, if a good replacement were to be found? More importantly, would this help Jerome Armstrong finally get on board with Obama?:D

In the brief 60 seconds I had talking to the former governor, I asked him if he still stood by the previous statement he made when he announced his bid for the U.S. Senate, at which time he categorically stated that vying for the VP position was a non-issue. He asserted that there was definitely "some wiggle room" from his earlier claim.

Later that evening, when his aide was introducing him to the small crowd of about 100 attendees before the question and answer session, the aid remarked that, "you can ask him anything, including if he wants to run as VP!" Questions proceeded, but none regarding his VP aspirations. The crowd must have thought that Gov. Warner's aid was being facetious. As they closed up the Q&A, the aid said something to the effect, "And no one wanted to know if he would take the VP slot? Well...." The aid then shouted verbatim, "Yes, he'd take it in a nanosecond!"

Gov. Warner smiled and clarified that "maybe not a nanosecond", but that we might hear more about it in the future.