What about Snowe?

Survey USA has released 17 different polls on how well John McCain and Barack Obama would do in Pennsylvania with different running mates. Not surprisingly, Obama does best when paired with the high-name-recognition John Edwards and with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. The oddest questions involve a scenario with Obama picking a Republican, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, as his running mate (and running pretty much evenly with McCain).

As long as we’re entertaining the possibility of a bipartisan ticket, am I crazy to speculate about Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe? She’s a woman with 30 years in Congress, has a lot of foreign policy experience (including a stint on the Select Committee on Intelligence), has always been one of the most liberal Republicans in Congress (and is pro-choice), and might be willing to give up a seat in a US Senate likely to be controlled by Democrats for the foreseeable future. If Obama does pick a woman as a running mate, I’d bet on Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, but unless I’m missing some big disadvantage (like a history of poor debate performances) Snowe doesn’t seem any less likely than Hegel.