The constitutional duties of the vice president are few and unglamorous. The political side of the job is more challenging. Vice presidential nominees have been asked to tick demographic boxes (Geraldine Ferraro, Sarah Palin), balance the ticket geographically (John Edwards), or bring over important swing states (Paul Ryan). They are supposed to make up for the presidential nominee’s shortcomings, the way Al Gore or Dick Cheney brought foreign policy experience to tickets headed by governors. Or they can simply balance the nominee’s personality, the way Dan Quayle was intended to be a youthful and vigorous complement to the staid and elderly George H.W. Bush.

So what is Donald Trump looking for this time around? He played it safe last time, but that didn’t work out too well. This time the short list contains everyone from senators to journalists to Kennedys. The TAC staff offer their predictions in this symposium—not necessarily who we want it to be, but who we think Trump will select.

Senator Tim Scott by Jude Russo

Representative Nancy Mace by Sumantra Maitra

Tucker Carlson by Helen Andrews

Nimarata “Nikki” Haley by Bradley Devlin

Representative Elise Stefanik by Anastasia Kaliabakos