Who Will Be No. 2 on GOP Ticket?

This week, Todd Domke wrote, in the Boston Globe, about the top criteria for John McCain's running mate.

Domke said the article was a "do-it-yourself scorecard" for choosing McCain's running mate, then he provided his list of top prospects.

Everyone's got a short list.

Domke's list wasn't so short. He listed his top 20, but it seemed to me that many of them had already disqualified themselves or seemed unlikely to accept the offer if it came their way.

For example, Domke named Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty as his top pick, but I think Pawlenty has already indicated that he isn't interested. Although he endorsed McCain's candidacy quite awhile ago, he pledged in January 2007 that "I am committed to serving out my term as governor. That’s what I am going to do."

Of course, it needs to be pointed out that, 18 years ago, Bill Clinton made a similar promise to the voters in Arkansas when he sought re-election as governor. Clinton, obviously, did not keep that promise.

Pawlenty will be the governor of the state that hosts this summer's Republican convention, and I suppose he would re-consider his position if McCain makes an offer.

The second-best choice, Domke writes, is Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. But rumors persist that Crist is gay, which wouldn't endear the GOP ticket to social conservatives.

Domke's third choice is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. I haven't heard Rice say whether she was interested in the No. 2 spot on the ticket, but my personal opinion is that McCain would risk further inflaming Bush fatigue by picking her.

Hendrik Hertzberg writes, in the New Yorker, that Rice is "a highly interesting option," and Hertzberg has some intriguing reasoning behind choosing Rice.

"[W]ith Rice on the ticket the Republicans could attack Clinton or Obama with far less restraint," Hertzberg points out.

He acknowledges an apparent drawback. "By choosing Rice, McCain would shackle himself anew to Bush’s Iraq war. But it’s hard to see how those chains could get much tighter than he has already made them."

Fred Barnes writes, in the Weekly Standard, that, in McCain's search for a "plausible president," yet someone "who won't subtract from his campaign in any serious way," to be his running mate, the Arizona senator will quickly encounter a "sad fact" that will have to be acknowledged.

"The unfortunate truth is that few Republicans meet these simple criteria," Barnes writes. "McCain doesn't have much of a pool to choose from."

Even so, Barnes has his list of both plausible and popular prospects. And he's found one candidate who is the "obvious winner" -- Mitt Romney. "But there's just one problem: McCain doesn't like him," Barnes writes.

How much does compatibility matter?

Well, the presidential and vice presidential nominees don't have to be best friends. This is politics and, while it probably wouldn't hurt if McCain liked his running mate, is it necessary? Hardly. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson didn't particularly like each other, but the Boston-Austin connection enabled the Democrats to defeat Vice President Richard Nixon in 1960.

Then again, it's hard to argue against personal chemistry. In 1992, Bill Clinton and Al Gore seemed to be perfectly compatible on their triumphant post-convention bus tour through the Midwest.

Who's the best choice for McCain?