Romney's running mate? It could be Christie or Santorum

The Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | January 9, 2011 | Thomas FItzgerald

[Clintonfatigued]

Christie is leaving the door open. "If Gov. Romney comes to me and wants to have a talk about that, we'll have a full conversation about that and then Mary Pat and I will make that decision about what we want to do with our future," Christie said in a Fox News interview before Christmas. "But my view is, I think if you fast-forward the tape to a year from now, I think it's going to be President-elect Romney and some other VP-elect - and Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey."

Christie repeatedly has said he would not be a good second fiddle. "Do I look like somebody's vice president?" he said at one point.

Another name very much in the mix: Florida's junior senator, Marco Rubio, a charismatic Cuban American with nine years in the state legislature on his resumé, including a term as speaker of the Florida House, and strong support from tea party activists. Presumably Rubio, 40, could help carry Florida, which will be as pivotal as ever, and also appeal to Latino voters, the nation's fastest-growing minority group, which has been drifting to the Democrats in a big way in recent years.

But here's a Pennsylvania angle on the veepstakes: Some handicappers even think Rick Santorum might be a good No. 2.

The former Pennsylvania senator has right-wing street credibility and is strong among evangelical Christians and other social-issues conservatives - important parts of the GOP coalition. As the grandson of an immigrant coal miner, Santorum also is a Northeasterner with a working-class sensibility (Did you hear him from Iowa on Tuesday night, describing his grandfather's hands?). Pennsylvania is a swing state, and, until his landslide loss to Bob Casey in 2006, Santorum had demonstrated strong appeal to economically stressed but culturally conservative whites

[lonevoice]

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