Jim Davenport, The Associated Press, 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.
“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.”