Which candidates do you see not getting picked as VP?

[Mister Mets]

Republicans:
Ted Cruz- He really doesn't play well with others. He seems like a veep who would be a thorn in the administration.
Mike Huckabee- Shows increasingly poor media savvy, thus negating one of his strengths.
Rick Santorum- Huckabee's flaws, with less political gifts.
Rick Perry- An old white guy with a reputation for dumb comments reinforces pretty much every stereotype against Republicans.

I could see Scott Walker as a Veep, if he gets reelected comfortably enough. He allows the base to run .

Democrats:
Brian Schweitzer- Burns bridges, and makes dumb comments.
Deval Patrick- Massachusetts isn't in play, and he was a poor candidate as Governor.
Bernie Sanders- Elderly socialist.
Hillary Clinton- Won't accept being #2.

Some maybes would be Biden and Warren. Biden is known and liked, offering the same advantages to a Kirsten Gilibrand that he did to Obama. Warren could be a strong advocate for economic policies and fire up the base, in a Paul Ryan sorta way.

[Mister Mets]

Deval Patrick- Massachusetts isn't in play, and he was a poor candidate as Governor.

I really, really disagree with this one. If Hillary has even the slightest problems with Obama's base, Patrick has as good of a chance as anyone to get the call. He's also shown the ability to deliver an excellent attack stump speech on a candidate.

He got less than fifty percent running for reelection in one of the most liberal states in the country.

Plus, he almost resigned as Governor because his wife had depression after his election.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2011/02/09/in_book_governor_deval_patrick_says_he_considered_resigning/

If Hillary wants someone who can appeal to Obama's base, she has better choices. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx might help in North Carolina. Cory Booker has significant media savvy and a reputation as a reformer. Likely Maryland Governor Anthony Brown has a military background.

[Mister Mets]

Deval Patrick- Massachusetts isn't in play, and he was a poor candidate as Governor.

I really, really disagree with this one. If Hillary has even the slightest problems with Obama's base, Patrick has as good of a chance as anyone to get the call. He's also shown the ability to deliver an excellent attack stump speech on a candidate.

He got less than fifty percent running for reelection in one of the most liberal states in the country.

Plus, he almost resigned as Governor because his wife had depression after his election.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2011/02/09/in_book_governor_deval_patrick_says_he_considered_resigning/

If Hillary wants someone who can appeal to Obama's base, she has better choices. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx might help in North Carolina. Cory Booker has significant media savvy and a reputation as a reformer. Likely Maryland Governor Anthony Brown has a military background.

All of these picks make absolutely no sense for Hillary. Foxx wouldn't do anything in North Carolina and would get attacked non stop for not being prepared enough for the presidency. Booker might be news-making pick, but he has an innate ability to steal news cycles, which Hillary doesn't want. Hell, picking Booker would probably piss off the Obama people after what happened in 2012 with Bain and in 2013 with Lautenberg. Anthony Brown wouldn't have been governor for even 2 years in Maryland by 2016.

Patrick, by comparison, has successfully completed 2 two terms in office as governor of a mid sized US state, has proven attack dog capabilities, and has a much more extensive history with Obama than any of the guys you've mentioned. Nobody's going to give two sh*ts about his electoral history in Massachusetts. All Obama's base is going to see is an African American career civil rights lawyer with an extensive relationship with the president. It's the perfect olive branch that tells everybody who was really ticked off by Clinton's 2008 campaign that everything is seriously fine between the two.

I really don't think you realize how important personal relationships are important in politics. VP picks are always either about motivating/uniting with your base, attracting new voters (AKA independents) to your coalition, or finding a governing partner. Ryan, Gore, and Biden were governing partner picks. Edwards was about attracting southern Democratic voters in the way that Palin was about attracting women voters (as well as the conservative base). VP picks are never about winning a specific state. Even LBJ was more towards Kennedy's strategy of keeping Southern Democrats from fleeing the party than for Texas.

If Hillary Clinton had stayed in the Senate or run for Governor of New York, she might have been in a position to benefit from an olive branch to Obama supporters. She doesn't need to do that after four years as the most popular person in his administration (Bo the dog is probably the most popular member.)

I agree that Patrick's electoral history isn't going to matter to voters, but that's not the point. The problem is what it may suggest about his political talents, and whether he could end up being one of those veeps that harms the ticket.