Who's OUR Dick Cheney?

Given the that fact our candidate for President, Sen. Barack Obama, is currently vetting vice-presidential running mates, a question came to mind as I read the following excerpt from today's WaPo by the reality-based Dan Froomkin:

"In his oil-patch zeal, Cheney sounded more chairman of Halliburton than vice president of the United States. The country has moved on to a debate about how to reduce carbon emissions to slow global warming. Domestic oil drilling would do little if anything to ease gas prices in the short term and, even in the long term, wouldn't reverse the growing supply/demand imbalance as emerging economies devour dwindling reserves.

"But Cheney needn't worry about sounding tone-deaf. It merely provides Bush more job security."

I got to wondering, "who is OUR Dick Cheney?"  You know, the guy who will take the heat for President Obama, and give him the positioning so that he is always seen as moderate.  In my view, that's the guy who should be Vice-President.

Currently, Senator Obama is reported to be considering people like Wes Clark, or Joe Biden for Vice-President.  Both of these choices, however, would not serve the Dick Cheney purpose: insulating a President Obama from the certain impeachment proceedings that the Rethuglicans will initiate should they ever retake the House.

In my view, Senator Obama should not play the inside baseball game by selecting a former general or longtime Senator.  Rather, he should find someone who represents the grassroots progressive community on which his candidacy has been built and has succeeded to date.

Such a person will be the anti-matter Dick Cheney.  In other words, he or she will be a force for good instead of evil, for life instead of death, for light instead of darkness.

He/she should be a Jedi.

And so, I put it to you, Kossacks, who is the Jedi that you would pick as our candidate's running mate?  Who is the Jedi who represents truth, justice and the way of America?  The Jedi who can put America back on its course?  The Jedi who will be calm and implacable, but be nimble and powerful in the face of the inevitable crises that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Elliot Abrams will throw at us when they leave their government positions and regroup?

The Jedi who will be able to lead the forces of light, just as Dick Cheney has led the forces of darkness?

I put it to you, Kossacks.

We have struggled and fought for our candidate, now it is time to offer our suggestions for his running mate.  I'm not saying he will necessarily act on our suggestions, but I believe he might consider them.  Please use comments to make recommendations based on the criteria above, or other factors you may wish to specify.  And the poll is merely my attempt to begin to identify such a Jedi.