Thomas Fitzgerald: Romney's running mate? It could be Christie or Santorum

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Politics abhors a vacuum, and the gap between news cycles these days is shorter than the life span of the sickliest gnat. So, although there is plenty of flash, noise, and movement - look, shiny! - in advance of Tuesday's New Hampshire Republican primary, it's not too early to begin asking the next question:

Whom should Mitt Romney pick to be his vice presidential running mate?

Seriously.

The veep question already gets chewed over in the hotel bars and at campaign stops, or wherever members of the media-consultant industrial complex gather, the hive mind's collective assumption being that Romney, after some resistance from balky conservatives looking for an alternative, will win the GOP nomination at the convention this August in sweat-soaked Tampa, Fla.

One likely suspect, the blunt-talking Gov. Christie of New Jersey, is scheduled to campaign for Romney on Sunday in Exeter, bringing some of the brightest star wattage in the GOP to bear on behalf of the stiff, awkward front-runner.

Of course, Christie disappointed many Republicans last year when he passed on running for president himself, but much of the yearning just transferred to wishing he would be on the ticket. There's undeniable bromance there - Christie endorsed Romney in early fall after letting the cup pass and made a surprise visit to New Hampshire before a debate to confer his blessings. Romney visibly glowed.

In addition to the chemistry, Christie could conceivably help Romney carry New Jersey, which no GOP presidential candidate has done since 1988, and would be a superior surrogate on the national campaign trail. Of course, he could also accomplish both those things remaining in his current post in Trenton.

Christie is leaving the door open. "If Gov. Romney comes to me and wants to have a talk about that, we'll have a full conversation about that and then Mary Pat and I will make that decision about what we want to do with our future," Christie said in a Fox News interview before Christmas. "But my view is, I think if you fast-forward the tape to a year from now, I think it's going to be President-elect Romney and some other VP-elect - and Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey."

Christie repeatedly has said he would not be a good second fiddle. "Do I look like somebody's vice president?" he said at one point.