Question: "Since Duncan Hunter is running out of time to make the leap to the 1st tier of candidates, do you think he's a possible VP choice for any of the contenders? Who and why?" -- Mike_M

Answer: If another candidate won, I think Duncan (whom I used to consult for) would make a fantastic veep selection for some of the other canidates.

Duncan is very conservative, has a lot of congressional experience, is well liked in the new media, is a former solider with a son who has served in Iraq, and he has enormous credibility on immigration and national security issues.

Although it's not always the case, presidential nominees generally like to select veeps who are strong in areas that they're weak in. So, that would make Hunter an outstanding match as a veep for Rudy, Mitt, or Huckabee -- especially in an election cycle where the war in Iraq and immigration are likely to be hot issues.

Now McCain is a former soldier with credibility on national security issues and he has lots of experience, but I could see his looking at Duncan, too. After the Democrats spent the entire 2004 election making a huge deal out of Kerry's service in Vietnam and calling Bush a chickenhawk, it's easy to see how having two veterans running at the top of the GOP ticket would certainly be advantageous.

As far as Fred goes, my guess is that he would be attracted to a more moderate, northern veep like Rudy, Mitt, or Tim Pawlenty instead of someone like Duncan -- but, who knows?