Pick a Running Mate for these Republican Candidates

[Mr. Morden]

Too many options there for me to go through them one by one.  But I would speculate that Thune, Rubio, Portman, Kasich, Christie, and Jindal will be on anyone's shortlist.  (Well, Jindal might not be on Romney's shortlist, as Romney might be concerned that a Mormon / South Asian ticket would not fly in certain parts of the country.)

Judd Gregg is a darkhorse possibility if you have a young presidential nominee without much Washington experience, who wants an elder statesman type as running mate.  Not a great choice on that score, but there aren't many other options to choose from.

Pawlenty might be considered as VP, but it depends on how he does with his presidential campaign.

Cantor would have been on most people's shortlists if the GOP had stayed in the minority in the House, but as House Majority Leader, it'll be too easy to tar him with people's complaints about unpopular things being done in Congress.  And Congress is always unpopular.  It's a law of nature.

Romney, Palin, Barbour, Gingrich, and Pataki are not going to be on anyone's shortlist.

[Mr. Morden]

It won't be Portman, Kasich, Ayotte, Haley or anyone else from the 2010 freshmen.

Kasich and Portman both have many years of Washington experience prior to their new jobs.  Heck, they were both mentioned in veep speculation for McCain in 2008.

EDIT: In fact, I suspect that part of Portman's motivation for running for senate in the first place was to set himself up for veep in 2012.

[Mr. Morden]

Bobby Jindal IMO would be a great VEEP candidate for Romney. He is a solid economic and social conservative, who can reach out to economic and social conservatives also squeamish about Romney.

If Romney wins the GOP nod, I think Romney/Jindal would be a really strong ticket (though Romney isn't my first choice for the GOP nod).

Like I said upthread, I don't think we're going to see a Mormon / South Asian Catholic GOP ticket.  Too electorally risky, from Romney's perspective.  Of course race and religion *shouldn't* matter, but I'm afraid they still do.

[Mr. Morden]

Bobby Jindal IMO would be a great VEEP candidate for Romney. He is a solid economic and social conservative, who can reach out to economic and social conservatives also squeamish about Romney.

If Romney wins the GOP nod, I think Romney/Jindal would be a really strong ticket (though Romney isn't my first choice for the GOP nod).

Like I said upthread, I don't think we're going to see a Mormon / South Asian Catholic GOP ticket.  Too electorally risky, from Romney's perspective.  Of course race and religion *shouldn't* matter, but I'm afraid they still do.

I think America no longer cares about religion in politics anymore. A decade ago, this would still be weird...but America has grown out of religion. And the media makes a bigger deal on the race of the candidate than the American public.

I wish you were right, but I'm skeptical.  Why did Romney do so poorly in 2008 primaries in states like Alabama and South Carolina?  Just because he's from the Northeast?  I doubt it.

[Mr. Morden]

He was by far the most liberal....

Uh, what?  He did nothing but attack McCain from the right.