When Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas gave the Democrats' response to the State of the Union address in January, she rejected the usual partisan rhetoric. Instead, she gently called on President Bush to "join us" in fixing problems like the economy and healthcare, pointing to areas of common ground.

She got a lot of raspberries - for both the message and her slow, monotonous delivery.

"Wow! Flat and boring," comedian Jon Stewart quipped. "What state is she governor of again?"

Sebelius has never been good at giving The Big Speech. It's not something that has mattered much in Kansas, a rural state with a small political press corps where she has spent 22 years in state government, the last six as governor. But lately, as a top-tier potential running mate for the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, she has been getting a lot of practice in stumping for the senator, making appearances that may help his campaign decide whether she is prepared for the national stage.

Though Sebelius is quick to acknowledge her State of the Union response lacked dynamism, she defends its respectful, let's-work-together tone. It is the kind of politics that Obama has preached, but that Sebelius has spent years practicing, in a state where three-quarters of voters are Republican or independent.

"There is a real modesty of spirit and . . . an understatement of approach that is highly regarded in this state - the sort of red-meat, fire-'em-up speaking style is often something that makes a lot of Kansans uncomfortable," she said in a recent interview in her State House office. "Yes, you can disagree, but you don't have to be disagreeable."

Sebelius is among the vice presidential prospects mentioned most often by Obama's key supporters, including many who say that if Obama bypasses Hillary Clinton then he would do well to choose another woman. At 60, Sebelius is a popular two-term governor of a Republican-dominated state, and her reputation as a low-key problem-solver marks a contrast with Clinton.

"I think a red state governor is a good symbolic pick, and I think that someone who has got real Ohio roots is an added bonus," said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic strategist and former deputy campaign manager for John F. Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. Sebelius's most obvious drawback is that she has no foreign policy experience, something Obama also lacks, and political observers say Obama needs a running mate with an impeccable foreign policy resume.

Sebelius does seem to have a special connection with Obama, whom she first met at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. They share a direct, low-heat style, and political observers say Sebelius is at the very least a top Cabinet prospect if Obama wins. Earlier this month, the Illinois senator's enthusiasm about her seemed surprisingly unchecked.

"I love Kathleen Sebelius," he said. "I think she is as talented a public official as there is right now. Integrity. Competence. She can work with all people of all walks of life."

Politics comes naturally for Sebelius, the daughter of John Gilligan, a former US congressman and governor of Ohio. A liberal Democrat who was an early opponent of the Vietnam War, her father made no apologies for his sometimes controversial stands. Her parents, she said, prepared their children for schoolyard antagonism by helping them understand the reasons for their father's votes, which Sebelius said taught her at an early age to defend a political position. But she also adopted a very different style from her father's.

"His tendency may have been a bit more confrontational than mine, or a little more in-your-face," she said. "I think my tone and style have been more collaborative, more finding common ground, tending not on a regular basis to reach out through the press . . . and bash people over the head."

After graduating from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., she met her husband, Gary, the son of a Republican congressman from Western Kansas.

Joyce Allegrucci, Sebelius's longtime campaign manager, said that just as her own father shaped Sebelius's political life, her close relationship with her father-in-law also helped her understand the point of view from across the aisle.

They settled in Topeka and Sebelius ran the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, which made her a lobbyist for the group, before running for the state Legislature in 1986, and then, eight years later, for insurance commissioner, where she gained national recognition by blocking the sale of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, the state's largest health insurer, on the grounds that it would raise premiums too much.

It would prove a successful formula for Sebelius when she became governor in 2002 - build a record of competence, keep most decisions within the mainstream, but take strong stands on certain high-profile issues. "She is very good on policy, but she is even better at combining politics and policy," said Burdett Loomis, a political science professor at the University of Kansas at Lawrence, who worked briefly in Sebelius's administration.

She has won praise for appointing highly capable deputies, and for encouraging them to cooperate. When the state Supreme Court required Kansas to dramatically increase school spending, Sebelius found a way to add more than $800 million to schools over several years without raising taxes.

Sebelius has also deftly exploited the deep divisions in the state Republican Party, which has been riven by internal strife between moderates and conservatives. Both times she ran for governor, Sebelius chose centrist Republican running mates.

Her relationships with some Republican legislative allies have frayed recently, though, said state Senate President Stephen Morris, a Republican who has worked closely with Sebelius on various issues, particularly since the governor this spring blocked a coal-burning power plant proposal for Western Kansas.

As her profile has risen, Sebelius has also drawn criticism from abortion-rights opponents for vetoing legislation they sought, and for hosting a reception at the governor's mansion for a well-known Wichita abortion provider. (He won the reception at a local fund-raising auction.) The Roman Catholic archbishop of Kansas City has also asked that she refrain from receiving communion until she repudiated her stance on abortion; Sebelius has said she would correspond with him privately.

Sebelius, however, appears to be looking straight ahead, and she is not shy about appearing ambitious. Asked whether she would feel ready to be president of the United States if necessary, she replied with characteristic composure that she would rely on bright and talented people to help her. "That capacity to make decisions and kind of trust your instincts," she said, "has been confirmed to be pretty good in the past."