Politically he appears to be a good match:

Reed resigned from the army in 1979 as a captain and enrolled in Harvard Law School. In 1982, he graduated and served as an associate at the Washington, D.C. office of law firm of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. Afterwards, he returned to Rhode Island and joined Edwards and Angell, a Providence law firm. Reed was elected as a state senator in 1984 and served three terms. In 1990, Reed was elected to the United States House of Representatives. For the next six years, Reed became well known in his state for his positions on education and health care, and when Senator Claiborne Pell announced his retirement in 1996, Reed campaigned to be his replacement and won the election. He was easily reelected to a second term in 2002. (Wikipedia)

Another Harvard Law guy!

Reed is currently a member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and the Senate Appropriations Committee. Americans for Democratic Action has often listed him as a "hero" as they indicate he has one of the most liberal voting records in the Senate. (Wikipedia)

Strong credentials. But not known as a ragin' Liberal.

Now, a lot of the objection to Reed comes from the idea that if he were the nominee the Republican governor of Rhode Island, Donald Carcieri, would be able to pick his replacement when he took office as VP. But I'm sure we all remember when Joe Lieberman was selected as the VP nominee back in 2000, there were many calls for him to not simultaneously run for Senator. But he stayed on, lost the presidential race but kept his Senate seat:

Like Democratic VP candidates Lyndon B. Johnson in 1960, and Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, Lieberman's Senate term was due to expire during the election cycle. Like both Johnson and Bentsen, he decided to stage a run to maintain that seat. (Wikipedia)

But that isn't necessary. You don't HAVE to stay on and try to run for your seat. And Jack Reed comes up for election this year, and so he finds himself in the same situation Lieberman did. But he doesn't have to make the same decision and he could drop out of the Senate race and someone else could run as a Democrat for his seat. Who might that be?

What prominent Rhode Island politician, formerly a Republican, formerly an Independent, would be a relative shoo-in in this very Democratic year?

Who said that his 2006 loss helped America by switching control of Congress to the Democrats?

Who just endorsed Barack Obama and basically became a Democrat?

Chafee Endorses Obama
By Jeff Zeleny

Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican Senator from Rhode Island, said today that he is changing party registration - at least on primary day next month - and endorsing Senator Barack Obama's presidential candidacy.

"I believe Senator Obama is the best candidate to restore American credibility, to restore our confidence to be moral and to bring people together to solve the complex issues such as the economy, the environment and global stability," Mr. Chafee said in a conference call with reporters today.

Not saying this is likely, but the alignment of Obama and Reed, the veterans theme of the the VP's night, and Chafee's re-entry into politics -- and a strongly pro-Democratic, pro-Obama re-entry at that -- is at least interesting enough to warrant further consideration, IMO.