My old colleague Justin Miller, over at PolitickerOH, notices David Brooks and Newt Gingrich are talking up Rob Portman:

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and New York Times columnist David Brooks both said former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman (R-Cincinnati) would make a good vice president for John McCain.

Speaking this morning on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, Gingrich said Portman and former U.S. Rep. John Kasich (R-Westerville) would be solid picks for McCain.

Yesterday, Brooks told the Young American's Foundation's National Conservative Student Conference that Portman would be his pick for McCain.

This supports the conventional wisdom that Portman is an establishment-conservative favorite, which doesn't necessarily mean Portman would fire up the base. His selection would also give Democrats plenty of ammunition to ask: Where's the change? Portman is not only a Beltway guy, he's also a, er, white guy. Nonetheless, he might be a great pick for McCain, but much will depend on whom Obama chooses.