Romney lists potential running mates

Newt Gingrich, Mark Sanford and Jeb Bush among short list

	Presidential candidate and former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., speaks during a breakfast with local residents, Thursday, during a campaign stop in Bluffton, S.C.
Stephen Morton / AP

AP	Video: In his own words Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., touches upon the primary themes of his campaign.
	Cartoons: Romney Msnbc.com's editorial cartoonists weigh in on Romney's candidacy.
Getty Images	Slide show: Born into politics Former Gov. Mitt Romney is a second-generation politician.

Interactive

Veepstakes!
Who did msnbc.com readers pick as No. 2 on the GOP and Democratic tickets?

NBC News

updated 5:23 p.m. ET March 29, 2007

BLUFFTON, S.C. - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday dropped some names of potential running mates in the 2008 race, but added such speculation is a bit premature.

Among those Romney mentioned for the second slot on the Republican ticket were three Southerners: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

"There's some wonderful people right here in this state, as you know, Governor Sanford being one of them," the former Massachusetts governor said to a round of applause after being asked about vice presidential picks by a member of a crowd of about 400 people gathered for his campaign stop in this early voting state.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

"I have to be honest with you, I haven't given a lot of thought to that, so I don't want to put any names in that hat right now," Romney said, but also gave a nod to Bush, calling him "quite a guy."
Message board
What do you think of Romney's candidacy?

"I love him. If his name weren't Bush, he'd be running for president, I'm convinced," said Romney, who added he also was "pretty partial" to South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.

Talking with reporters later, Romney said the names he mentioned are part of a list of vice presidential contenders that anyone winning the GOP nomination would have to consider. "When I'm in South Carolina, I'm not going to fail to mention some of the ones that are closest," Romney said.

Romney has lagged behind former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain in the polls, often with support registering in the single digits. He also trails such better-known Republicans as Gingrich and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson - who are weighing presidential bids - when their names are added to the mix of candidates.

  Picking the president — the candidates
Click a name below to visit that candidate’s MSNBC page
• Joe Biden                • Sam Brownback     • Hillary Clinton          • Chris Dodd
• John Edwards         • Rudy Giuliani           • Mike Gravel              • Duncan Hunter
• Mike Huckabee        • Dennis Kucinich     • John McCain           • Barack Obama
• Ron Paul                    • Bill Richardson      • Mitt Romney            • Tom Tancredo
• Fred Thompson
To subscribe to a candidate page RSS feed, click here.