Who Gets John McCain's Vice Presidential Nod?

Well, now we know: the most likely Republican nominee for President is Senator John McCain, after Mitt Romney took the martyr's way and bowed out to keep the Republican party from destroying itself.

No doubt we'll hear lots more from Romney in the future; he may have lost this race, but he did it in such a way as to guarantee himself a place in the top tier of Republican presidential candidates of the future. The big question now, however, is who McCain will choose as running mate. With some of the cries of outrage at him coming from the far right wing of the party, this choice could be critical.

McCain needs several things in a running mate to balance out his flaws in the eyes of the Republican Party and in the national electorate as a whole:

- He needs youth. McCain is 70, no spring chicken, even though he's in very good health and more fit than many young men I know.

- He needs conservative credentials. McCain has gained the reputation of being more liberal than the far right of the party is comfortable with, and though he will easily gain the vote of most of the centrists, he will have problems with the core base: evangelical, conservative to a fault, and angry at Bush for his perceived betrayal in many Republican concerns.

- He needs diversity. Old white guy - 'nuff said. A running mate fitting in any minority could make a difference for him.

- He needs charisma. McCain is a good man and an honest man, but he's also blunt and abrasive and not the smoothest talker in the room.

John McCain and Mike Huckabee is a possible pairing. The Huckster has a strong following in the far right wing of the party. He's a minister, and the evangelical wing likes that. He's funny and charming. But - he also has a mean streak that has come out occasionally in the race. With McCain being rather abrasive to begin with, he needs a nice guy for his second. Huckabee also does not have strong conservative credentials. Instead, he is known for voting very liberal on social issues. And there's just something about Huckabee that makes you not quite trust him. In a long race, this pairing would probably be disastrous for the Republican Party.