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Ten possible vice-presidential candidates for the GOP ticket

Too soon to start speculating about possible Republican vice-presidential candidates? Evidently not. Mitt Romney's rise to the level of presumptive presidential nominee seems to have given political writers and pundits the go-ahead to begin one of the favored handicapping contests in all of politics.

4. Chris Christie

AP Photo/Julio Cortez
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie talks to students during a visit to Trenton Catholic Academy on March 20, 2012, in Hamilton, N.J.

  • By Amanda Paulson Staff writer

Gov. Chris Christie is at the top of a long GOP presidential wish list – the politician whom many in the establishment wish had run for president in 2012 but didn't.

He’s incredibly popular in the Republican Party, and – like Romney – managed to get himself elected governor of a state that typically votes Democratic (New Jersey in Christie's case).

He has taken on labor unions and has been ruthless in paring New Jersey’s budget deficit, and he has a lot of the charisma that Romney lacks. Christie could be the opposite of a tea party pick, helping Romney in the tack back to the center that he’s expected to make before November.

On the other hand, Romney doesn’t exactly need another Northeasterner on the ticket. And Christie’s personality could outshine Romney himself. Christie is also someone who clearly likes to be in charge – one reason, according to Nate Silver at The New York Times, that governors are so seldom tapped as VP candidates.

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Mark Sappenfield
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