Any of the ones running but Romney. Sarah would’ve been my first choice but the GOP-e ran her off. I would have settled for Bachmann, Cain, Santorum, Perry or even Newt. All were pro-life, pro-family, pro-small government, pro-defense and all much more conservative than the mandate-loving Romney.
Many of us would have "settled for", but that doesn't mean any of them could have won against Obama. The MSM would have crucified Bachmann, Cain and Palin just like many so called conservatives did on internet forums.
Perry was another Texan like Bush and virtually eliminated himself. NAFTA Newt, the philanderer, wasn't going to be acceptable to Evangelicals and women. Santorum lost his US Senate race in Pennsylvania and endorsed Specter over Toomey. He also didn't appear to have enough passion or desire for the campaign. (Who could blame him?)
So we'd better find an acceptable and viable candidate in the next few years, if it isn't already too late, and have him/her vetted and ready to roll.
I was never a fan of Gingrich but after much thought I settled on the belief that he would be the ideal VP choice for Rick Santorum. Both had broad appeal. I saw it as a matter of putting the diplomatic face out front with the harsh whip toting taskmaster backing him up.
The way the campaigns are conducted needs to change. I’d like to see more open teamwork earlier. Romney could have been stopped dead in Michigan if Gingrich and Santorum had appeared together and stated clearly that whichever won the race would absolutely choose the other for the running mate. After all Michigan came down to a 3000 vote difference between Santorum and Romney which translated to the 50/50 delegate split and a late night rule change to break the tie in Romney’s favor.