DOES OBAMA HAVE A PROBLEM WITH SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS? Bredesen: McCain a “Very Attractive Candidate”.

UPDATE: Reader Paul DiGiovanni emails:

Phil Bredesen is among the most respectable Democratic office holders that I can recall. As a Tennessean, I salute his margin of victory in his reelection campaign in a red state. That brings me to this question: would he make a reasonable choice of running mate for, gulp, John McCain? A pseudo-Bubba (he is a native of upstate New York) might help to solidify McCain’s grip on “Reagan Democrats” and should take the South out of play (if it hasn’t been already). I think that there is a case to be made for Sara Palin, or one of the Ohio/PA/Michigan names being floated (Kasich, Portman, Romney (native of Michigan), etc.). However, I think that whatever choice McCain makes will be colored by Obama’s choice, and the state of the race at the time of the Republican convention. But shouldn’t Bredesen be in the mix?

I’d see Bredesen as a better choice for Obama — might even put Tennessee in play, which Bredesen says it’s not for Obama now. Some more thoughts on Bredesen here.