Romney-Steele '08?

Jimmie at the Sundries Shack has an excellent suggestion:

The candidate that seems least flawed to me - Mitt Romney - is still not conservative enough to earn my vote. But he could be. If he chose the right running mate.
Choosing a running mate before we’ve even gotten to Super Tuesday is…well, let’s just call it highly unconventional. . . .
Mitt Romney needs Michael Steele.

Hear, hear. Martin Knight at Red State has a similar view.

I was very impressed with Steele's performance on "Meet the Press" in October 2006. Steele ran circles around Ben Cardin, and Steele's subsequent defeat in the Senate race was more attributable to the situation -- running against an anti-GOP tidal wave in an overwhelmingly Democratic state -- than a reflection on Steele's performance as a candidate.

Like Romney, Steele is a "Blue State Republican" who has had to campaign and govern in an environment that is hostile to his conservative values. I've had the opportunity to meet Steele, and can attest that Steele's cheerful, upbeat -- dare I say, Reaganesque? -- conservatism is for real.

Here's video of Steele doing a "HamNation" interview with the Sweetheart Of The Blogosphere(TM):

Steele is telegenic and has a disarming sense of humor (notice how, about 2:30 into the video, he laughs about "slogging uphill" in heavily-Democratic Maryland) and would certainly be valuable to the GOP ticket -- especially after Team Clinton finishes its trademark character-assassination campaign against Barack Obama. (Hat tip: Memeorandum.)

Of course, Steele is a Republican loyalist and cannot afford to take sides in a contested primary race, but it would certainly do no harm for Romney (or Huckabee or Crazy Cousin John) to start mentioning Steele as a potential VP nominee for '08. That would be the kind of rumor I'm sure Steele would be flattered to deny.

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UPDATE 11:15 p.m.:

Headline of the day: "Obama completes endorsement sweep of loathsome Massachusetts senators."

As much as conservatives have complained about the Republican field this time, pity the poor Democrats who have to choose between (a) the Team Clinton dirtball operation and (b) the favorite candidate of the Chappaquiddick Swim Champion. Assuming, that is, that not even liberals are foolish enough to vote for (c) former Sen. Barney Fife.