Is this the woman who will join Obama on the ticket?

Unless there’s a dramatic turnaround in Hillary’s campaign in the next few days then in the middle of next week speculation will turn to who the junior senator from Illinois will choose to be his running mate.

There has, of course, been talk that it should be Hillary herself and certainly that would please large sections of the party. But after the campaign that we have seen and her tactics in the past few days is that going to be possible? And would having a Clinton on the ticket simply reinforce the Republican vote?

What Hillary has shown, however, is that there is a large constituency of women voters which needs to be kept on board. A woman on the ticket could play a big part.

Consider, therefore, Kathleen Sebelius – the Governor of Kansas who, herself, was tipped as a potential candidate for for President after Kerry’s defeat.

Speculation about her future was heightened by the fact that in January she was chosen by the Party’s congressional leaders to give the to Bush”s to Republican President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address.

She also got onto the Obama band-wagon early. A week before Super Tuesday and the Kansas Caucus she endorsed his campaign. Obama won the caucus easily, with over 70% support. Kathleen has also done TV spots for Barack.

She’s also chair of the Democratic Governors Association – which is often described as a very good launchpad for those with political ambitions.

On Betfair Kathleen is the 3.6/1 favourite – well ahead of her PaddyPower price of 5/1. When there’s such a differential between a fixed odds price and the betting exchange then the former won’t last long.

The most I was allowed to put on was £78 – but that should give a reasonable return.

Mike Smithson