Gov. Palin enjoys her role as grande dame--or, perhaps, the dowager empress--of the GOP conservative wing, and has no intention of risking the role by running in 2016. She realizes, I suspect, that if she runs for anything and loses again, her cachet will diminish, and she will look less like a leader and more like a loser--and the media would make sure of that.
Rep. Bachmann is Gov. Palin without the camera presence. If she runs she will flop before she starts. She would make an effective Secretary of Education in a Cruz administration, if her purpose there was to do what Bill Bennett was supposed to do and didn't, which was (and is) to dismantle the DOE and devolve control of education to the states.
Sen. Santorum and Gov. Huckabee are political has-beens. Huckabee could become the personal chaplain of President Cruz, which would place him in a religious rather than a political role, a mini-version of Billy Graham. Santorum could be placated by a minor cabinet position like Secretary of Commerce in the Cruz administration, but he probably would be better off in a ministry, a kind of contemporary Chuck Colson.
Which leaves Gov. Jindal. Pols usually don't like choosing a ticket with members of adjoining states, but Jindal gave the almost-perfect VP speech at the summit, and Cruz/Jindal could crush Hillary-Clinton/Juan-Castro, because Cruz and Jindal are the two people who will take the fight to the enemy, rather than do what Republicans always seem to do, which is to wait for the attack and then try to fend it off.
That's the take of someone who was 1000 miles from the summit...
Cruz/Jindal. Interesting take. Does sound good though, and you’re right that these two would take the fight straight to the Dems and never let up. Something we haven’t seen from GOP presidential and vice presidential candidates lately.