Romney's Running Mate

[Averroës Nix]

First - I don't really want to speculate about this yet, but I'm sick of threads about Herman Cain.

My thoughts - Republicans will undoubtedly appreciate the optical and symbolic advantage of putting a minority on the ballot. Jindal, who would probably be a good pick anyway, would satisfy this inclination. He's been in office long enough that his presence on the ticket won't hurt Republican messaging about Obama being unqualified and inexperienced. He's also from the South - an advantage, though I'm not convinced that it's necessary for Republicans to put a Southerner on the ticket. Furthermore, as one of Perry's earliest supporters, Jindal's presence alongside Romney will be marketed as a sign of party unity. (I still think that the early primaries are most likely be characterized as a two-candidate race between Romney and Perry.)

Less seriously, most VP candidates that we've seen over the past decade have been flawed (The only two that were not, Gore and Bush, went on to win a plurality of the popular vote when they moved to the top of the ticket).  Jindal's awful SotU response is evidence that he might fit in among Palin, Biden, Edwards, Lieberman, Cheney, Quayle, Stockdale, and Ferraro.

[Averroës Nix]

Less seriously, most VP candidates that we've seen over the past decade have been flawed (The only two that were not, Gore and Bush, went on to win a majority of the popular vote when they moved to the top of the ticket). 

Gore won 48.38% of the vote in 2000, that would be a plurality, not a majority

Fixed. Thanks for the catch.