SENATOR Bob Dole will name his vice presidential running mate at the Republican national convention in San Diego, California, four months from now. The delegates will endorse his decision by acclamation, and march up and down the aisles chanting their names.
The vice presidential candidate is often the product of a deal to strengthen or balance the ticket: politically, regionally, ideologically or ethnically. In this century four vice presidents succeeded to the presidency following the death in office of the incumbent. They were Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson.
Johnson was Jack Kennedy's choice. Without Johnson the Democrats would not win Texas. And without Texas J. F. K. would not be president.
Vice presidential candidates can weaken the ticket, as George McGovern discovered in 1972 after he dropped Senator Thomas F. Eagleton as his running mate. When the story broke that Eagleton had been in hospital twice for depression, McGovern supported him "one hundred per cent". That rating soon plummeted. He changed his mind and disillusioned his student supporters who deserted him.
Since the Clinton Gore combination proved so formidable in 1992, there is pressure on Senator Dole to find a political partner who will draw votes in states where the Republican Party is weak. Mr Dole will be 73 when nominated. This makes it unlikely that if elected in November he would be fit enough to serve a second term.
One possible Republican vice presidential candidate, Governor Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey, has taken herself out of contention. She does not want "to be on any ticket in 1996", she says. She is serving a first term as state governor and hopes to be reelected.
Mr Dole's press secretary was non committal when the New York Times asked if Governor Whitman was being considered for the vice presidential spot? "While Senator Dole has not yet begun the formal process of considering a running mate, he applauded the Governor's great work for New Jersey taxpayers," the press secretary replied.
A vice presidential candidate must satisfy various factions in the party. Anti abortionists, for example, oppose Governor Whitman, who is "a moderate" on the issue. Some Republicans believe she would draw Democratic women voters to Mr Dole.
Mr Dole says his first choice for the vice presidential slot is Gen Colin Powell, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen Powell says he will not be on the 1996 ticket as a presidential or vice presidential candidate, but does not appear to rule out completely the second possibility.
The best region for Mr Dole to find a vice presidential candidate is the Mid West Ohio, Michigan, Illinois or Wisconsin. The first three states have Republican Catholic governors: John Engler in Michigan, Jim Edgar in Illinois and George Voinovich in Ohio.
Another possible vice presidential candidate is Governor Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin. Republicans are anxious to have a Catholic or a woman on the ticket with Mr Dole. Mr Thompson fits the bill.
Fellow Senator John McCain of Arizona, a Vietnam war hero and the US prisoner held longest in the "Hanoi Hilton", is politically and personally close to Mr Dole, and may be his personal choice for the vice presidential slot.