Be vewy vewy afwaid

In this house, my spouse operates on a higher wonk factor than I. And she, like a couple of characters from my remote past, is inclined to begin her conversations with an ellipsis. Thus I was momentarily confused when she began to mention Kerry Healey whilst we watched News Hour speculation about Romney's possible running mates.

After I had her rewind a little, I grasped the point, which is a good one. Lt. Governor Healey was a cipher in the Romney administration. When she ran to succeed him, without her former chief's support or even interest, the game plan became obvious.

Romney wanted to be a one-man show. This, my spouse thought, is imprinted on the man's DNA and is not likely to change just because POTUS is the prize this time out.  She thought Romney will only be happy with a VP who is as much a cipher as Healey. As a result, one can wash out numbers of potential VP candidates being bruited about by the Punditocracy. The VP candidate will be literally and figuratively in the shadows. Win or lose, that person can expect consignment to the Limbo where the shades of most American VP candidates and VPs dwell.

For the most part, American Vice Presidents have been nonentities. It was not until one of the nonentities, Truman, had greatness shoved in his face that this began to change. Even so, see if you can remember losing VP candidates since Truman without Googling any of them.

No ambitious Republican, considering that history and the example of Kerry Healey, can do anything but consider Romney's nod a political kiss of death.