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Matt Drudge has a poll up on his main page and Romney is beating second place Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison almost three to 1. Tim Pawlenty is in fourth place behind a dark horse candidate selection.

On Intrade, Mitt Romney is leading Tim Pawlenty 62.2 to 20.0 up 17 points. Tom Ridge is in third place.

So, will Mitt Romney be the GOP Vice Presidential selection?

Conventional wisdom says yes but Flap can feel the deflation out of the GOP if McCain chooses him. Americans want different this election season and Mitt Romney along with McCain will assure an Obama-Biden win in November.

The GOP desperately needs to attract independent and women voters and with that……

Flap’s picks:

!. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

2. Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

3. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty

4. Lousiana Governor Bobby Jindal

Geraghty says informed sources indicate an announcement soon and it is either Tim Pawlenty or Mitt Romney.

Judging from the activity on the blogs and MSM press it really could go either way. Lobbying activity is heavy for both candidates.

McCain will be well served in making a sooner rather than later announcement.

The Evangelical Christian Right has warned John McCain to NOT choose Mitt Romney as his running mate.

Prominent evangelical leaders are warning Sen. John McCain against picking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as his running mate, saying their troops will abandon the Republican ticket on Election Day if that happens.

They say Mr. Romney lacks trust on issues such as outlawing abortion and opposing same-sex marriage and because he is a Mormon. Opposition is particularly powerful among those who supported former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the Republican presidential primaries earlier this year.

“McCain and Romney would be like oil and water,” said evangelical novelist Tim LaHaye, who supported Mr. Huckabee. “We aren’t against Mormonism, but Romney is not a thoroughgoing evangelical and his flip-flopping on issues is understandable in a liberal state like Massachusetts, but our people won’t understand that.”

The Rev. Rob McCoy, pastor of Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks, Calif., who speaks at evangelical events across the country, told The Washington Times, “I will vote for McCain unless he does one thing. You know what that is? If he puts Romney on the ticket as veep.

“It will alienate the entire evangelical community - 62 million self-professing evangelicals in this country, half of them registered to vote, are going to be deeply saddened,” Mr. McCoy added.

John McCain faces a “risk” in selecting Mitt Romney - especially with the Evangelical Christian Right. Is this piece and Mike Huckabee’s announcement on Fox News last night that he thought Tim Pawlenty would be John McCain’s Vice President an endorsement of the Minnesota Governor? (Remembering that Mike Huckabee visited Pastor McCoy’s church in Thousand Oaks in March of this year.)

As the lobbying between the pro and anti-Romney forces in the GOP continues, Flap hopes somebody is doing some focus groups and polling in Michigan, Nevada and Colorado.

John McCain needs to pick the very best candidate.

Stay tuned…….

Previous:

• Mitt Romney As Vice President - The Effect on the Electoral College Map
• John McCain Watch: The Michigan Battleground
• John McCain Watch: Vice President to be Named This Week - Is it Mitt Romney?

In the continuing discussion of John McCain’s possible choice of Mitt Romney as his Vice President running mate comes this piece evaluating Romney’s effect on the Electoral College map.

As for the McCain team, they have ample reason to select Romney, but they need to understand that his strengths don’t necessarily match the conventional wisdom. Romney’s base tends neither to be evangelicals nor Reagan Democrats, but instead, middle- and upper-class fiscal conservatives who value lower taxes and stricter immigration policies and who are probably relatively satisfied with the status quo. This describes a significant number of independent voters in states like Colorado. However, if the Republicans throw Romney out there and try to turn him into a populist, they’ll be in for a long campaign.

Nate’s analysis is essentially the same as Flap’s here.

Mitt Romney has his strengths and weaknesses. What it will come down to is the polling in Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico - all toss-up states.

Will John McCain play it safe with Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty as is the conventional wisdom or roll the dice with Mitt Romney?

The latest polling from Michigan has Barack Obama and John McCain locked in a tight battle.

Obama has the support of 43 percent of likely Michigan voters, to 41 percent for McCain, according to the survey conducted for The News and WXYZ by Lansing’s EPIC-MRA. That’s well within the survey’s 4 percentage point error margin. A potentially decisive 12 percent say they’re still undecided, and 5 percent chose third-party candidates Bob Barr or Ralph Nader.

Key graphs:

• Obama, buoyed by near-universal support from African-Americans, is well ahead in Detroit. He holds a big lead with young voters, and a smaller edge among those who name the economy as their primary concern, and gets better marks as the candidate most likely to bring change.
• McCain leads among white voters, but not by a large enough margin to counter Obama’s lead with African-Americans. He is ahead across the state outside of Metro Detroit, especially in northern and western Michigan. McCain gets higher marks as a candidate voters trust, and to handle terrorism and homeland security.

Could this be the primary reason why rumors have been swirling around Mitt Romney, who beat John McCain in the Michigan GOP primary election and a native son (Romney was raised in the state where his father was Governor) to be named as McCain’s Vice President?

In a close race, it might provide the edge to win.

By the way, tell one of the morons in the video above that she could not vote for Bush again anyway.

Yesterday evening Flap posted a piece after DC journalist extraordinaire, Robert Novak, quoted sources close to Team McCain that John McCain would reveal the name of his Vice Presidential selection this week.

Although Flap opines that an early announcement portends well for Mitt Romney, others say NAY. Now, comes speculation that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is McCain’s Vice President choice.

John McCain is set to meet with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Wednesday, a move that is certain to increase speculation the Arizona senator is seriously considering the 37-year-old Republican for his running mate.

News of the meeting, first reported by the Washington Post, comes amid reports the McCain campaign has mulled the possibility of naming the vice presidential candidate later this week in an effort to steal the medial spotlight from Barack Obama’s trip overseas. Sources close to the Republican presidential candidate have indicated that scenario is one of several possibilities that have been recently discussed.

Flap admits Bobby Jindal would be a good choice. But, the best choice?

The timing is important and both Mitt Romney and Cindy McCain are out of the country. So, this rumour and speculation may be a Team McCain feint in order to dilute news of Obama’s foreign adventures.

A Thursday Vice President announcement or a “LEAK” today, however, would spin the weekend talk away from Obama and force his hand to name his choice for Vice President.

Stay tuned……..

Previous:

John McCain Watch: Vice President to be Named This Week - Is it Mitt Romney?

Rovert Novak, the Price of Darkness of DC journalism says that John McCain will name his vice President this week.

Sources close to Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign are suggesting he will reveal the name of his vice presidential selection this week while Sen. Barack Obama is getting the headlines on his foreign trip. The name of McCain’s running mate has not been disclosed, but Mitt Romney has led the speculation recently.

Does Novak know something that he is sublimely breaking here - Mitt Romney is the Vice President pick.

Flap has thought a choice will be made when some initial polling has been completed. And, it has.

New poll numbers out from the Detroit News have the Michigan race between Obama and McCain very competitive with a chunk of voters still on the sidelines.

Obama is up 43-41, but 12% of voters said they’re undecided.

The latest New Hampshire poll also has the race close.

Anyone want to bet?

Flap says it is McCain - Romney by Thursday.