The two big notions floating around on the chattering circuit is that Joe Biden is up (true) and Mitt Romney is down. What's spurred the Romney news is the pressure coming from Evangelical groups and Mike Huckabee. Both insist Romney's religion has nothing to do with their opposition and that their concerns center around Romney's flip-flopping on matters like abortion and same-sex marriage.

Without really disagreeing with the chatterers who say Romney's down, I have a different take: Romney's never really been that high to begin with. From the beginning of McCain's VP search, Romney has looked the best on paper, but the same was true during the primaries. It's a sad irony for Romney actually: He's positioned himself so well in the party that he was never able to earn the loyalty of a particular faction of the party. And factional loyalty is what Romney has always lacked.

So while McCain has heard a lot of people tell him why he shouldn't pick Romney, he hasn't heard a lot of devoted Romney-ites tell him why he should. And although I think McCain isn't going to give the Evangelical concerns too much heed in his choice, a strong voice arguing for Romney might have moved the former governor a bit higher in the veepstakes. As it is, Romney sits there as if in limbo -- a safe pick with no one really pulling for him.