By Richard Engle

It is by no means a secret that she has been mentioned as a strong contender in the Veep stakes.

Conservatives, constitutionalists and libertarians in the GOP may have strong concerns about Mary Fallin and some may be repelled at the initial notion of her candidacy for national office. They should realistically look at the options and they will see that any Republican Presidential candidate would be foolish to not have Mary Fallin on their short list for running mate.

It matters not which likely candidate is the Republican nominee, be it as left as Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, as right as Texas Senator Ted Cruz, as libertarian as Kentucky's Senator Rand Paul or as populist as Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, each of them and of every other likely candidate should see great advantages in Mary Fallin as their Veep.

The choice of a Vice Presidential running mate is a Presidential candidate's first chance to act Presidential. Very little of a President's actual job is "running the country" as is often said or even "running the federal government" which should be more accurate. A President's policy is most significantly seen in his appointments. Who he (or she) chooses for each of the hundreds of appointments will set policy and will make or break a Presidency. The Vice President is seldom very important (Dick Cheney in George W Bush's administration being the obvious exception) in an administration. However, the pick shows the nation the type of choices the candidate will make as President before we are obliged to choose which of the two parties nominees will occupy the Oval Office.

The cynical among us will suggest that a candidate only chooses a running mate on electoral math. Others will peer through rose colored glasses and say their candidate made a choice on who could truly do the job and could assume the role of President, if needed. There are a variety of reasons for a choice that fall between the two including who will heal the party of its fractures after a long primary/caucus season or even heal the party after one or two disastrous national campaigns which lead to Democrat victories.

On careful examination this writer would suggest that every significant sieve through which potential candidates are run, Governor Mary Fallin comes out on top among all significant Republicans.

What advantages does Mary Fallin have over others in the Veep stakes?

1) She is a female. I suspect that she finds this sexist measure distasteful, as do I. The reality is that both parties have tried to put a female into the office and both failed because they had less capable candidates then they do now. The Democrats are likely to nominate a female for President, and a Republican ticket that includes Mary Fallin will be able to attract voters toward the GOP. And, she will be able to shine light on former Senator Hillary Clinton's many shortcomings. While there are other possible female Vice Presidential candidates for the Republicans, the fact that Mary Fallin fulfills other important needs makes her the best option among them.

2) Mary Fallin is not a short term elected official like Governor Sarah Palin. Palin was a Mayor and then spent a portion of her term as Governor in office prior to being thrust into the national spotlight. It was only then that we came to realize the deficiencies in her experience would lead to a failure to adequately motivate the electorate in the Republican's favor. To be fair, she would have had to be something close to the second coming to have made up the gap in the pathetic campaign of Senator John McCain.

3) She is a Governor, a popular Governor, and one who will (by then) have served a full term and into a second. Any nominee from Congress will want to balance the ticket with someone who served as Governor, and in the reverse case, a nominee who was Governor will find a former Congresswoman in Mary Fallin.

4) Mary Fallin can speak well and does so without a heavy regional accent, nor is her voice of a pitch that is disagreeable. She is ever gracious (one exception alone comes to mind) and is known to remain pleasant even with those who oppose her.

5) She is known to be loyal. Loyalty is a rare commodity in politics. In two terms as Lt Governor to Governor Frank Keating there was never a scenario in which she bucked the Governor's leadership. Even though the offices are separately elected in Oklahoma, she was the faithful team player throughout. In her term as Lt. to Democrat Brad Henry as Governor, Mary was very propitious in her activities when contrary to the Governor. She never acted in a manner that any could say was disrespectful of him or his place in office. Any Presidential nominee will relish the opportunity to have a Vice President that has shown their ability to be a true team player.

6) Mary Fallin has DC experience. As previously stated, if we have a nominee who was a Governor, her DC experience will be invaluable. If the GOP nominates someone without political experience (like Ben Carson) her dual experience will be critical to his success in office.

7) Despite being attractive and gracious, she will not outshine the nominee like Sarah Pallin did, Paul Ryan did, Jack Kemp did, etc. Well, perhaps she will, but we are all hoping the Party does a better job of nominating a Presidential candidate this time. A Vice Presidential nominee must support the ticket but can't "steal the show".

8) Mary Fallin has a winning record, she has never lost an election. Beyond being a good omen, the reality is she didn't run if she could not win. If she does not have confidence in the nominee and the GOP prospects of victory then she is wise enough to avoid accepting the running mate position.

9) She has an image of being conservative, but can be set to appeal to the broad base of the party. Conservatives say she is moderate, and liberals say she is conservative. The reality is she is the most conservative Governor in Oklahoma history. The Oklahoma Constitution recently measured the Governors based on their Conservative Index. This index goes back only to 1979 and thus does not include Dewey Bartlett (the only prior administration that could be counted as conservative), but based on signing or vetoing bills, she is the most conservative of the Governor's that could be measured.

Many political activists from the right have suggested that she came somewhat late to the party with her advocacy of Work Comp Reform, Open Carry and repeal of Common Core, but her willingness to sign those laws, along with other actions, proves she qualifies as conservative.

10) Mary Fallin is from a state with a multi-regional appeal. "She's from the South like us." "She's from the Midwest like us." "She's from the West like us." "She's from a farm state like us." "She's from an oil state like us." "She's from a small state like us." "She's from a red state like us." Depending on how you count them, that gives her a platform of appeal to as many as 40 states, and only a couple of the 10 that don't apply are winnable anyway.

11) She lacks a defining issue or agenda. Clearly, any Governor or Congress member casts votes that define them to some voters. Nonetheless, with Mary Fallin as the Vice Presidential nominee, there is no grand issue of national import that will either draw fire to the ticket or overshadow the nominee. This persuades us that she can adapt to the agenda and issues of the nominee for President.

12) Mary Fallin is not a contender for the Presidency herself, at least not now or for the next several years. This removes any thought of a Veep that would be a political threat or one with a pressing urge to attain the "highest office in the land."

Liberal, moderate, conservative, libertarian, populist, Governor, Senator, non-politician, everyone who might be the nominee will consider Mary Fallin. And they should!

I'm not advocating for her, I'm just saying that any nominee needs to consider that Mary Fallin on the ticket would improve their prospects of victory.

My guess is that Todd Lamb would like the idea too.