ORLANDO (Florida) (AFP) - If reports about Barack Obama's vice-presidential shortlist are correct, he is thinking about adding foreign policy expertise, heartland appeal or reformist zeal to his White House ticket. The Democratic presidential hopeful and his staff have maintained a wall of secrecy around his vice-presidential deliberations, in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention in Denver next week. But speculation was further fanned by a New York Times report late Monday that the Illinois senator is working from a short-list of three names and will reveal all within a few days. The newspaper said the list includes veteran Senator Joseph Biden, Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, though some Democrats are still variously quoted as saying Obama may surprise with a wildcard pick. The current media favourite appears to be veteran Delaware Senator Biden, who burnished his long list of foreign policy credentials with a weekend visit to Georgia following its showdown with Russia. Obama referred to "my friend" Joe Biden on Tuesday, during an address to military veterans here, and backed his call for one billion dollars in reconstruction aid to Georgia. Biden, 65, is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and ran briefly in this year's race for the Democratic presidential nomination. His experience may be exactly what Obama needs in his White House battle with veteran Republican John McCain, but Biden also has a reputation as a windy speaker prone to the occasional gaffe. Though he would gleefully take the battle to his friend McCain, Biden's veteran presence on the Obama ticket may undercut the Illinois senator's crusade to cleanse Washington of its insider gridlock. Biden, a Roman Catholic, may however help Obama with white middle class voters with whom he has struggled to connect. The Delaware senator's personal story is also compelling: he has commuted to Washington daily from home by train, following the death of his first wife and infant daughter in a car crash just before Christmas 1972. Obama may decide to compliment his own calls for reform in Washington by choosing an outsider, Kaine, who has a reputation as a reformer with appeal to southern Democrats. Kaine, 50, might also help deliver his state of Virginia, once a solid southern Republican bastion but which Democrats are targeting in November's election. The downside on Kaine is that he lacks the kind of background in national security that many pundits say is needed to balance the relatively inexperienced Obama's ticket. Bayh, 52, could be a compromise choice and may appease some supporters of Hillary Clinton, after he backed Obama's former Democratic foe in the party nomination race. Another possible pick for Obama - should he want to bring a woman onto his ticket - is Kathleen Sebelius, 60, the second-term governor of a state, Kansas, that historically has been safe Republican territory. She has won national praise for her bipartisan style and might reach out to older female voters still smarting from Hillary's defeat. But selecting any female running mate other than Hillary herself might open Obama to charges of gender tokenism. Hillary herself was once seen by many Democrats as one half of a "dream ticket" but such speculation has dimmed in recent weeks. Obama said to be reluctant to bring the political baggage, staff infighting and personal agendas of the Clintons onto his ticket. Still, a shock call to the former first lady would ensure a blizzard of media coverage, and would bring her legions of white, working class voters into the fold.