Rubio appears to be gearing up to be Romney's VP

[Drunken Irishman]

16. I addressed that...

A VP pick certainly can give a candidate a quick boost in the polls. It doesn't last, though because, in the end, the focus returns to the two main candidates. Even if Palin hadn't been as inept as she was out of the gate, I don't think she wins that election for McCain.

It's not a coincidence the last three presidential candidates who made strategic, political choices lost the overall election. Palin was solely picked to galvanize the Republican base that was lukewarm to McCain, Edwards was picked because he came from North Carolina and Lieberman was picked because he was Jewish.

You want to even go back further, look at Lloyd Bentsen in '88. He was picked because he came from Texas and was a moderate - so supposedly he would help balance out the ticket. Bentsen didn't win Texas and didn't help Dukakis at all. He delivered a knockout blow in a debate, embarrassed the inexperienced and often laughable Quayle and Dukakis-Bentsen still got their butts kicked in the general election.

And I think that election, maybe more than any other, furthers my point. You had extremely contrasting VP candidates: Bentsen who was tough, experienced and smart and Dan Quayle who was weak, inexperienced and dumber than a sack of potatoes (heh). If there were ever an election where the VP candidate would influence the outcome, you'd think it would be that one.

But nope because, in the end, it was about Dukakis and Bush - not Bentsen and Quayle.

Finally, there is Geraldine Ferraro. She, like Palin, was a strategic pick and, initially, like with Palin, Mondale saw a bump in the polls...but it didn't last.

Ferraro was infinitely smarter than Palin and still got her butt kicked, along with Mondale, by Reagan.

I think people worry too much about the VP candidates. I really don't think Rubio will decide anything in this election. There might be initial buzz, some solid poll numbers when the Republican Convention rolls around, but, in the end, when the last leg of the campaign starts, the focus will once again return to Obama-Romney - not their VP candidates.