A mysterious press release from the Obama campaign this morning announced that the candidate "will host an economic discussion with Democratic governors in Chicago" on Friday, but didn't name who those governors will be. Here's my short list of the folks who should be there, and why: Montana's Brian Schweitzer: Because Obama should be seen with a guy in cowboy boots. Arizona's Janet Napolitano: Because she's the Democratic Party's leading pragmatist on immigration. She's also attempting to wean her state off the economic crutch of bad mortgages and rapid-fire exurban growth by focusing on mass transit and greener development. Kansas' Katheleen Sebelius: Because the oft-floated veep prospect could use a refresher course on how to be an effective surrogate for Obama; three weeks ago at a Teamsters conference in Las Vegas, she got key elements of his biography wrong in a public speech. New York's David Paterson: A former Hillary Clinton supporter, Paterson got off to a rocky start as Eliot Spitzer's replacement, and is now, for some reason, fighting hard for a cap on property taxes that the teachers unions strongly oppose (property taxes fund public schools, of course). He could use a little lift. Iowa's Chet Culver: Because the state's flood victims are the kinds of folks Obama's economic policies should appeal to. New Mexico's Bill Richardson: Because if he can get through events like this without doing or saying anything doofy or embarassing, he just might be a serious veep prospect. --Dana Goldstein
