Crist and Nelson for VP?

So asks a pair of stories in the Tampa Tribune - one about Senator Bill Nelson and another addressing Governor Charlie Crist's chances of being their party's Vice Presidential standbearers in 2008.

The Nelson piece actually puts forward some good arguments for the Senator and makes him sound like a better choice than he did in 2004 (though I still believe him to be the successor to Bob Graham in one respect - doomed to be on the short list, but never on the ticket).

The Crist piece is actually deceptive - it lists all the reasons that no one in their right mind would pick him to join their ticket, including

"unsubstantiated rumors that he's gay"
"accusation of having fathered an illegitimate child, who was adopted by a St. Petersburg family 18 years ago"
"accused him of seeking offices more than results"

I have said before that there is no way Crist is going to be on the Republican ticket. The only major candidate who doesn't need a social conservative to balance him out is Fred Thompson, who does not need another politician from the South.

But, though I had not seriously considered Nelson likely before, I admit that the Tampa Tribune makes some good points (when was the last time someone said that?). I'm not sure he's risen ahead of people like former Navy Secretary and current U.S. Senator Jim Webb and former Governor and current U.S. Senator Evan Bayh, but the case has been made.