While some rumors were floated and suddenly deflated (Condi, anyone?), many are guessing the short list has three likely possibilities: Ohio Senator Rob Portman, former Governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
Have those names generated any excitement on Twitter? Mashable turned to social media analysis firm Topsy Labs to find out:
Currently, mentions for any of the three have fallen rather flat. However, Jindal has gotten the most mentions over the past month, spiking when he announced his refusal to implement the Affordable Care Act (also known as "Obamacare") and when he called President Obama "incompetent." Pawlenty saw a similar spike when a report in The New York Times shed light on his prankster habits.
What if we compare Jindal with Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan?
There, we see higher sustained interest for Ryan, peaking at various times when he attacked Obamacare.
Rubio has had the most sustained interest among Google searchers for the past month, second to Bobby Jindal -- although searches for Pawlenty and Portman have spiked recently, possibly due to their media appearances as Romney surrogates:
Do Twitter mentions and Google searches indicate public interest in a possible vice presidential candidate? Share your thoughts in the comments.