Insiders' Pick as McCain Running Mate: Portman

But Romney still likely pick over pro-choicer

(NEWSER) - Decorated general and former secretary of state Colin Powell might add another title to his resume, reports Politico, citing a McCain adviser who says his candidate's failure to rule out a running mate who supports abortion rights points to Powell as a possible pick. But Mitt Romney—whose father was a Michigan governor—is still a more likely choice if McCain decides a win in the state is crucial. More»

Candidates seem certain to pay for aisle-crossing tickets

(NEWSER) - With talk that John McCain and Barack Obama could pick Joe Lieberman and Chuck Hagel, respectively, to round out their tickets, liberal and conservative stalwarts tell Politico the aisle-crossing VPs would likely wreak havoc with the parties’ bases. While each has broken with his party on Iraq, Lieberman is far too socially liberal for Republicans, Hagel too far right for Democrats. More»

Party-swapping, hawkish Lieberman would push McCain to the center

(NEWSER) - John McCain's best choice for running mate may be a familiar face in the vice presidential slot—Joe Lieberman. The independent Connecticut senator would be the "first Jewish, party-crossing, second-time-around VP nominee in American history," and could push McCain toward the center just enough to attract valuable conservative Democrats, writes Walter Shapiro in Salon. More»

Blogger runs down likely veep candidates for Obama and McCain

(NEWSER) - “Since McCain and Obama appear to have the nominations locked up,” it's time to start eyeing the veepstakes, Chris Cillizza writes in The Fix blog. Here are his top three for each presumptive nominee, GOP first:

1. Tim Pawlenty: The Minnesota governor is a longtime McCain backer, and widely admired.
2. John Thune: A handsome conservative who also beat then-senator Tom Daschle 4 years ago.
3. Rob Portman: From Ohio, a crack economist, and not well-known—which could actually be a good thing.

Nate Silver: It's worth a few percentage points at best

(NEWSER) - We've heard that as running mates, Rob Portman of Ohio and Marco Rubio of Florida could help Mitt Romney in their battleground home states—but statistics wiz Nate Silver isn't so sure. In the New York Times , he evaluates the performances of presidential tickets in the VP nominee's home states, dating back to 1920. Despite a number of caveats, he finds that the much-vaunted home-state effect "is normally quite modest—perhaps two or three percentage points on average." More»