While we’re waiting for Romney and McCain to appear, we can chew over some thoughts from Middle Cheese, my source from 2004 who was allied with the Romney campaign this cycle, on who he thinks makes the strongest running mate choice for Senator McCain…

Sen. McCain ought to choose former Ohio GOP Congressman John Kasich as his running mate. First, McCain will need a younger, full spectrum conservative as his Vice Presidential choice. Mr. Kasich, an 18-year Congressman with a lifetime American Conservative Union congressional vote rating of 88 percent (higher than McCain’s 83 percent), is a solid fiscal, social and defense conservatives. As the former Chairman of the House Budget Committee in the mid-1990s, Rep. Kasich deserves the lion’s share of the credit for balancing the federal budget for the first time in 30 years.
Second, in a general election contest against Sen. Obama, war hero McCain should perform well in the traditional “red” southern states, as conservatives coalesce behind him. Therefore, he’ll need a running mate who can put the mid-western battleground states like Ohio and Michigan in play. Mr. Kasich was not only a popular Ohio politician, but as the former Budget Chairman and current investment banker with Lehman Brothers, he can speak with authority on the economy – a top concern in manufacturing states like Michigan. Furthermore, as the Pennsylvania-born, Roman Catholic son of a mailman, Mr. Kasich can relate to blue-collar, working class families in a way that millionaire McCain cannot. Kasich, the author of two best-selling books and a part-time television talk show host, is a great communicator.
Finally, Mr. Kasich is a serious policy wonk, especially on domestic matters, which the McCain campaign will need to create an important contrast with the platitude-filled Obama campaign. John Kasich was on the short list of Vice Presidential candidates for Bob Dole in 1996, but probably lost out because of his youth and inexperience. Today, he is a more mature and seasoned fifty-five year old, who would be the perfect running mate for the 72-year old McCain.

Middle Cheese brings up a lot of strong points, and I like Kasich a lot. But I can think of a few drawbacks. While Kasich would help in Ohio, I wouldn’t count on him to deliver it; I’m not sure there are too many lawmakers remaining who can “deliver” a state like they could a generation ago.

This is one of the tougher tests of any vice-presidential choice but if, God forbid, something happened to McCain, can you see Kasich as a commander-in-chief? I’m not saying I can’t, just that Kasich’s wonky, energetic style doesn’t match the image of a wartime president…

I know he has the Fox News show, but Kasich has been out of the policy arena for a while.