In a take on NCAA March Madness for college basketball fans, MSNBC’s David Gregory and Chuck Todd are hosting an interactive “veepstakes” that lets readers vote on their favorite Republican VP candidates.

All joking aside, McCain and his advisors face a tough decision; if they pick someone who’s too young they risk being seen as desperate to compensate for McCain’s age. If they pick someone just because he or she is a minority, they risk being seen as being cynical. If the pick someone too conservative, they might negate McCain’s supposed appeal to moderates, but if they pick a social liberal who’s economically conservative, evangelicals will start writing their collective “Dear John” letter sooner rather than later.

McCain’s best bet is to go for a “smiling conservative” such as John Thune, the dashing young Republican senator from South Dakota, or Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina. The best way to appease the party’s conservative base would be to tap Gov. Mike Huckabee, though he might be hard for the economically conservative wing of the party to take. However, I would ask McCain who he needs more: tax-cut-loving Republican insiders or not-to-be-taken-for-granted evangelicals?