Republican strategist Ford O’Connell says the Romney campaign isn’t rushing the decision about a runningmate. “I think they’re benefiting greatly from this tryout situation that they’re doing. Particularly in these battleground states where some of these folks are from, it’s helping to improve Romney’s favorability when a respected native son speaks well of him.”
Interesting that O’Connell would mention the battleground states in terms of vice presidential candidates, because Jay Cost is looking at the presidential race and by his lights, the race is going to come down to Ohio, Florida and possibly Pennsylvania.
“If either Romney or Obama carry both [Ohio and Florida], they will likely win the whole election,” Cost said. “Pennsylvania is going to be a battle ground this year too, as will New Hampshire.”
Putting these two data points together gives us a very short list of four possible choices for Romney: Ohio’s Rob Portman, Florida’s Marco Rubio, New Hampshire’s Kelly Ayotte and Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey.
Here’s a strong yes vote for Portman.
And here’s a strong Rubio endorsement.
Ayotte says she’d love to debate Biden.
And finally here’s the case for Toomey.