Surprising Facts About the Possible Vice Presidents

From tax returns to health reports, we already know (maybe) much too much about the presidential candidates, Barack Obama (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ). But what do we know about the most likely vice presidential candidates? After all, history demonstrates that the second most powerful person in the world can be unpredictable: He (or she!) could either be the guy who wins an Oscar and a Nobel Prize, or accidentally shoots a friend while hunting.

So who is the gun lover in the new crop of veep contenders? MainStreet has answers:

DEMOCRATS

Jim Webb
This senator from Virginia served in Vietnam and is the father of an Iraq veteran. But did you also know he also packs heat? While speaking to the New York Times Magazine (NYT) recently and asked, “Do you have a gun on you now?” the senator replied: “You don’t know how safe you really are.”

Evan Bayh
In 1988, this Indiana senator (then a secretary of state) called a hasty press conference to announce that he smoked pot once when he was in college. “I tried it. I didn't like it. I never tried it again,” he told newspapers.

Michael Bloomberg
New York City’s Independent mayor may be a self-made billionaire, but did you know he’s also a grumpy old man? “"We're turning out a whole generation of kids who don't have the skills or work ethic to survive in society," Bloomberg harrumphed to USA Today back in 1994. "No one owes you a living."

REPUBLICANS