ombow: I think Romney is the clear front runner after Florida. Newt's last stand will be the Super Tuesday primary day. If Romney does well up to and including that day then he's got it wrapped up. Believe me, Marco Rubio would be the preferred VP candidate no matter who the nominee for Pres is going to be. Marco Rubio was actually my second favorite choice to run for President, after Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. But Rubio won't want to take the second banana spot...he'd prefer to stay in the Senate and perhaps run in 2020. I think Romney is going to be the nominee and I predicted that a few weeks ago. He has too many things going for him, lots of money being the most important. Newt can be charismatic but his negatives, particularly among female voters, will doom him in the end. For example, my wife has never voted for a Democrat that I am aware of, yet she told me she would sit out the election if Newt was the nominee. For her, character means something and she feels that Newt has been a cheating husband and an opportunist and would never vote for him. That being said Romney will have a tough call to make. Does he pick an experienced old hand that is ready to step in as Pres in the event? Someone like Haley Barbour of Mississippi who would be perfect...solid conservative, well versed in the intricacies of Washington who would help bolster Romney's acceptance by the farther right elements of the party. With this approach he will have to deal with the perception of the old white guys running things again. Or does Romney try to do what McCain tried to do and nominate a woman or a minority to try to deflect the perception that the Republicans are not just a bunch of old white guys trying to run things. Palin was a stretch and it cost McCain some credibility, even though I think Palin got a raw deal from the national media, but that was to be expected. The National media is just a fully owned subsidiary of the Democrat party. If Romney goes with this strategy I hope he picks someone like Condoleeza Rice who would help him in numerous ways...she's black, she's a woman, and she has far more foreign policy knowledge and expertise than he does. Other possibilities that could get some speculation are Gov Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Tim Pawlenty of Minn, Chris Christie of NJ, Mitch Daniels of Indiana, Col Allen West (Congressman from Florida) and former UN Rep Bolton. There will be others as well. But my two favorite potential picks would be Haley Barbour or Condoleeza Rice (for different reasons). I don't want to see Romney stretch and pick someone like Nikki Haley of S. Carolina who I like but who is not ready to step in as Pres in the event . Lots of variables to weigh. The problem is that many potential VP candidates don't want the job. Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie etc. don't want to be second banana. So Romney will have to settle for a Tier 2 VP candidate. That's the nature of the beast.
AI
