Why Rick Is No Dick

Cheney: The new yard-stick for veeps?

Remember when people were talking about Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as possible vice-presidential running mates for Sen. John McCain? These days, even though CNN is suggesting that seeming political ghosts like former Homeland Security chief Tom "Buy Duct Tape! Buy Duct Tape!" Ridge might be in the running, the odds of a Texan on the ticket seem pretty slim.

Who's left? Although MSNBC viewers voted for Mitt Romney in their Republican fantasy vice-presidential leagues, that would be the most 'candidates-holding-their-nose' innauguration since LBJ and JFK. Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal was pondered for a while, but with the Democrats winning two high-profile elections in his state (one State House, one U.S. Congress) and Jindal himself narrowly avoiding recall over his botched handling of state house salaries, his star shines dull.

Minnesota's Gov. Tim Pawlenty could bring some hands-on gubernatorial experience to the ticket, except local critics have pulverized his economic mismanagement, and nationally he's best known because the terrible I-35 bridge collapse happened on his watch. Similarly, ultra-conservative poster boy South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford blew out after gasping for air while defending McCain.

Or maybe they're all just looking low-profile because they could never match the giddy heights scaled by Vice-President Dick Cheney.