May 5, 2016 3 min read

With the last of his challengers vanquished, Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting Donald Trump is now being asked about potential running mates, and he said some of the candidates he left in the dust during the GOP primary season will be under consideration.

We’re not sure how far down the candidate food chain “The Donald” intends to look. We presume the folks who withdrew before a single primary vote was cast – George Pataki, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker and Rick Perry – won’t be on any short lists. Looking back, it’s kind of hard to believe Koch brothers’ favorite Walker was once seen as a frontrunner for the nomination. Apparently, what works on the people of Wisconsin, where Walker is governor, doesn’t translate well to other states.

Then there’s the next tier of erstwhile presidential hopefuls, those who stuck around just long enough to be embarrassed in early primaries before recognizing their odds of winning the nomination were akin to the fate of a snowball in a very warm place.

That means you, Rick Santorum, Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee. Trump already has a large enough sector of voters who don’t like him and don’t trust him. He doesn’t need help from those guys.

Then, you reach the “somewhat plausible” level, including folks like Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and Ben Carson. It seems highly unlikely Trump would repeat Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s desperate move to tap Fiorina for the second slot on a ticket. Christie seemed like a deer in the headlights when standing behind Trump at some of his campaign appearances. Trump mocked Bush as a “low-energy” candidate, and the rest of the Bush family made it clear they won’t be going out of their way to support the reality TV star and businessman. Carson is simply too unpredictable. He’s living proof someone can be a genius in one area (brain surgery) but otherwise clueless.

That leaves the three candidates who stuck around longest to serve as Trump’s whipping boys: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

First, let’s consider Cruz. Until Cruz bowed out after being thrashed in the Indiana primary, Trump routinely called him “Lyin’ Ted.” Now, he’s calling him a “smart” and “capable” guy, but it’s hard to imagine Trump teaming up with someone who was arguably the most unlikable and reviled candidate in the huge Republican field.

Rubio would seem, on the surface, to be an attractive VP candidate. He’s young. He’s photogenic. He’s Hispanic. But he’s also an empty suit. Rubio has done little of note his entire adult life other than run for and then hold public offices. He’s such a lightweight one could be forgiven for wondering whether his shoes are nailed to the floor behind the podium when he speaks to keep him from floating off.

And that leaves Kasich. He has extensive congressional experience (from the days before members of Congress had the same approval levels as hemorrhoids), he’s currently running a state government and he has solid standing with the Republican right on most issues. And unlike Cruz, he’s personable. Also, he’s from Ohio, a state that’s as close to “must win” as any for a GOP presidential candidate.

Trump may go in a totally different direction, but if he’s looking for rock-solid and seasoned, he could do much worse than Kasich.