•  
  Rick Santorum
  13,339
  24.3%
   
•  
  Mitt Romney
  13,011
  23.7%
   
•  
  Ron Paul
  11,972
  21.8%
   
•  
  Newt Gingrich
  7,248
  13.2%
   
•  
  Rick Perry
  5,544
  10.1%
   
•  
  Michele Bachmann
  3,065
  5.6%
   
•  
  Jon Huntsman
  308
  0.6%
   
•  
  Herman Cain
  23
  0.0%
   
•  
  Buddy Roemer
  9
  0.0%
   
•  
  Other
  227
  0.4%
   
•  
  No Preference
  115
  0.2%
   
• 54,861

While the Obama camp has assumed [and been preparing for] the GOP/TP candidate to be Romney, they have not even begun to unload on him ~ and Romney has provided more than enough material to hang himself ~ Santorum focused on the religiosos in Iowa and that paid off for him ~ the question that got answered for me last night is that the religiosos are gonna have a VERY tough time supporting Romney ~ I also believe the young voters who flocked to Paul last night will have a tough time embracing Romney ~ time will tell ~

Sooz

Romney might pick someone who would appeal to social conservatives, but his other concern is help in one of the crucial states - Ohio, Florida or a state like that.  It could be a regional pick - someone from the South.  Nikki Haley could be a great pick - Governor of South Carolina and already endorsed him, I believe.

The Palin selection made the election much closer than it would have been - McCain's campaign was dead in the water going into the convention and needed the shot of excitement given to the "base" that wasn't terribly excited about having McCain as the nominee.  Had he selected someone like Lieberman (who he really wanted to pick,) the "stay at home" factor would have resulted in an Obama landslide of historic proportions.  So, despite the lack of appeal across the board Palin provided, her choice addressed the first need of the McCain campaign, which was to get the conservative core to the polls.  McCain couldn't deliver the independents, and they lost.  Obama ran a terrific campaign, with a lot of ammunition to use against the Republicans.  I said earlier that there are few unbeatable candidates, but there are some virtually unwinnable campaigns, and 2008 was one of those.  It's why "Bush" is an unmentionable on the campaign trail this year.

Romney has lots of potential choices - could be a guy with a Southern accent, or possibly someone from the South without a Southern accent, or someone from the Midwest who sounds a bit like a Canadian.

Christie could be a good choice, too, but his best shot might be at the top of the ticket in 2016 or 2020.  I'm glad you see him as a moderate, Kathy.