Poll Position: Who’d be best GOP sidekick in 2012?

For a presidential race that’s hardly begun, there’s already a lot of speculation about the No. 2 spot on the GOP ticket in 2012.

Michele Bachmann’s recent surge in the polls has experts speculating that, if she can’t win the nomination, she’s at least positioning herself to be the running mate for someone like Mitt Romney — who, if nominated, could use someone with solid conservative credentials to keep the Republican base fired up. Before Bachmann’s rise, the previous GOP-outsider flavor of the month, Herman Cain, was getting similar attention.

Romney’s own people, on the other hand, are already touting Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as a potential VP candidate. But it wouldn’t surprise me if Rubio, who will be just 41 by November 2012 and is regarded as a future star in the party, wanted nothing to do with a national ticket this early — especially if someone else’s name is atop it. He has said as much, and I’m inclined to believe him.

 Loading ...

Tim Pawlenty was asked last week whether Gen. David Petraeus, confirmed 94-0 by the Senate on Thursday to be director of the CIA, would be on his short list for a running mate. Pawlenty (who was in Atlanta this week for a fund raiser) responded, “Well, he’d be on the short list for a lot of things.” I’m sure he would be — and not just for Pawlenty. But would he want to make that kind of transition to national politics?

So here’s this week’s Poll Position question: Who do you see as running-mate material for the GOP at this point: Someone in the 2012 field already, or maybe someone else? I’ve put a few choices in the poll — assuming Bachmann and Cain don’t get the nomination, and giving no regard to who the presidential nominee will be — but feel free to choose “other” and specify who you have in mind in the comments thread.

– By Kyle Wingfield

Find me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter