唐纳德·j·特朗普(Donald J. Trump)相对于两党主要反对派候选人的民调优势大幅上升，这让人们有理由猜测他会选择谁来分享获胜的选票。
因此，他强大的领先优势将减少对竞选伙伴的依赖，以帮助他在11月的大选中获胜，而更多地强调谁是最值得依靠的，以共同推进获胜的政策。
随着共和党初选于1月24日正式开始，特朗普已经在全国范围内领先对手平均60个百分点，在州调查中领先对手超过20%。
民主党试图通过取消竞选资格、刑事起诉和破产等手段来消除最大威胁，但他的努力遭到了挫败，这在很大程度上要归功于他，因此他在大多数全国性民调中都以决定性的优势击败了现任总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)，包括所有摇摆州。
就像从特朗普广受欢迎的电视连续剧《学徒》(The Apprentice)中挑选一集一样，最常被提名的副总统候选人中，谁可能会被淘汰或提拔?
忘了妮基·黑利和罗恩·德桑蒂斯吧
由于忠诚对特朗普来说非常重要，前南卡罗来纳州州长尼基·黑利和现任佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯不应该计划在短期内放弃目前的工作。
尽管黑利在2017年至2018年担任美国驻联合国大使期间支持川普的许多政策，包括加强美国与以色列的关系，退出关于气候变化的《巴黎协定》，但两人在其他问题上公开出现分歧，包括美国对乌克兰的支持程度。
在特朗普称黑莉为“鸟脑袋”之后，不要指望会产生任何爱巢情绪，而他的儿子小唐纳德在圣诞节接受Newsmax的“平衡”节目采访时表示，他会“竭尽全力”让她远离他父亲的竞选。
和黑利一样，罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)也没有通过忠诚测试，在特朗普为他赢得2020年州长选举提供了关键支持后，他忘恩负义地发起了一场总统竞选。
德桑蒂斯可能会成为2028年强有力的竞争者，他的保守政策，如果不是他的机会时机，与特朗普的基础密切相关。
看看一些强势的女性候选人
特朗普在9月接受美国全国广播公司(NBC)的克里斯汀·威尔克(Kristen Welker)采访时表示，他喜欢选择一位女性的概念，“但我们将选择最合适的人。”
南达科他州州长克里斯蒂·诺姆(Kristi Noem)似乎是特朗普的最爱，特朗普已公开承认他在候选人名单上。
在9月接受NBC采访时，特朗普说:“我认为她很棒。她是一位伟大的州长。她给了我一个非常响亮的支持，实际上是一个美丽的支持。你知道，这对我来说是一个非常好的状态，当然她会是我考虑的人之一。”
那个月，当被问及是否会考虑加入特朗普的竞选团队时，诺姆告诉Newsmax，“哦，当然。我马上就会这么做。”
虽然她并不代表一个摇摆州，但她深红色的根基与特朗普的基础产生了强烈的共鸣，她强烈批评了针对特朗普的刑事起诉，在担任州长期间制定了重大的堕胎限制措施，并禁止跨性别女性不公平地参加传统的女子学校运动队。
来自纽约州的冉冉升起的共和党明星议员伊莉斯·斯特凡尼克(Elise Stefanik)是特朗普的另一位最忠实的支持者和最坚定的盟友，她曾在特朗普的弹劾辩护团队中任职，并在越来越多的法律斗争中支持他，比如对处理特朗普民事欺诈审判的纽约法官提起司法道德诉讼。
Owing to a razor thin GOP House majority and representing bright blue New York, however, Stefanik's ongoing role may be most valuable remaining in Congress.
Also, don't entirely count out Trump's former White House Press Secretary Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders who effectively defended her boss in daily sparring matches with CNN and other liberal media outlets.
On the loyalty front however, she was notably slow in endorsing his '24 presidential candidacy.
Some Outstanding Black Possibilities
Highly respected Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina who terminated his own '24 presidential campaign bid notably avoided attacks on Trump in a race where winning Black votes may prove a decisive factor.
Scott, who emerged from an impoverished background with a single working mother and brother sharing a one-bedroom North Carolina dirt road shack-like home, worked with the Trump administration to develop opportunity zones for low-income communities.
When asked on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" whether he would choose Scott as a running mate, Trump said he thought Scott is a "very good guy," and talented.
Nevertheless, upon dropping out of the presidential contest the senator said, "Being vice president has never been on my to-do list for this campaign, and it's certainly not there now."
Another fast-rising House Republican, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, openly expressed enthusiasm when asked on SiriusXM whether he'd accept an offer to join Trump on his ticket.
Donalds said, "If that's something that's open to me, would I do that? Yeah, I would, because I want to do everything possible to help get our country on track, because despite our political disagreements in America, we are the best country in the world. It ain't close."
The congressman had endorsed the Trump campaign back in April — picking the former president over fellow Floridian Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Meanwhile, although there should be no confident bets regarding who, among numerous excellent partner candidates, Trump will pick, unlike his presumed opponent, we all can be very grateful that there are none named Kamala.
Larry Bell is an endowed professor of space architecture at the University of Houston where he founded the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture and the graduate space architecture program. His latest of 12 books is "Architectures Beyond Boxes and Boundaries: My Life By Design" (2022). Read Larry Bell's Reports — More Here.
