Close to the finish line?

Today’s blogs are full of speculation about Sen. Barack Obama’s choice of a running mate. Most of the news is focused on Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, but Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is mentioned in the same breath in practically every post. Andrew Romano of Newsweek examines the pros and cons of the front-runners and focuses in on Obama’s trip to Missouri today. He’ll end up the day with a barbecue in Union, Mo., which Romano notes is about 50 miles from Kaine’s hometown. Actually, it’s more like 250 miles from Union, Mo., to Overland Park, where Kaine grew up, but who’s counting? If proximity is the issue, it’s only about 50 miles on down the road to Topeka, where Sebelius is the sitting governor.¢¢¢ MSNBC also notes the Missouri trip but continues to downplay Sebelius’ chances of being chosen: “: Sebelius’ major obstacle is not that she is a woman, but that she is the wrong woman — not Hillary Clinton.”¢¢¢At the New York Times, Jeff Zeleny talks about the vetting process. Because she’s new on the national scene, he says, the examination of Sebelius needs to include her achievements as well as any deficiencies. Pairing either Sebelius or Kaine with Obama, he also notes, still produces a ticket with limited foriegn policy experience.