Did you catch last night's interview of Mitt Romney by Sean Hannity on the Fox News channel?

Amiable, forgiving, congenial, gracious and wise as ever, Mitt looked tanned and rested. Anyone who might think he holds a grudge or any animosity towards John McCain or his other rivals would be dead wrong. Romney gave McCain several plugs last night, even when the questions weren't specifically aimed for such an answer.

Personally, the only guy I could see who you would want more in your corner than a guy who will brush off the rough and tumble of politics like Romney, is someone like him, who has more money. Frankly, I don't know who that is.

Hannity asked him about his own aspirations to run again, and Romney did not say, oh sure, I'll do it again. It sort of sounded like, though he didn't say it, that eight years from now would be too late for him. Interesting, too, since most of us isn't giving the next president, even McCain, more than four years. Romney isn't power hungry. He wasn't in it because he's the best thing to happen since slice bread. He's smart, he's competent, he's pragmatic, and he knows it. Such people are willing to recognize they might not be the answer eight years from now. For them, their time is now.

Then, too, the thought of gearing up for another grueling campaign might not be so appealing. Remember, since 1999, when he took over the 2002 Winter Olympics, he's been basically in the spotlight. That's nearly nine years of public life. Most of what he did before that was working behind the scenes.

That's why the possibility of him being asked to balance the ticket with McCain as the vice-presidential nominee is quite appealing. Michael Medved likes the idea, and so does Fred Barnes. I've known Romney would have no problem accepting the invitation. He doesn't hold grudges, and he's worked in team settings before where he wasn't always the head guy. He'll take the lead in his department or jurisdiction, even if he can't make all of the decisions. And a go-getter like Romney would be good for McCain, who wants to be a maverick and a conviction guy, rather than a number crunching guy. It would also give him an opportunity to put his money where his mouth is and bring on the consummate manager.

While some presidents have turned their vice presidents loose to do real work, most are too egotistical to do so. Many times, VPs are there to balance and add appeal to the ticket, more than they are the personal choice of the presidential nominee. So, while we could only dream that Romney would be turned loose to oversee a department by department review of the federal government, resulting in major consolidations or eliminations of said departments, there's just as good a chance it wouldn't happen because McCain wouldn't be that passionate about it.

But, it would make a Romney presidential run in 2012 or 2016 more of reality than it would be otherwise. Vice Presidents have much more clout, much more of the political machine behind them, particularly if they're viewed as competent. Without having to fight another bruising primary against others, Romney could focus on a national campaign much earlier and be rested and prepared to take on whoever the liberals next rising star might be.

However, I don't hold out the same hope as others, who just make the case for Romney even if they don't believe it will happen, simply because I think McCain is more about giving the spoils to those who are loyal to him, the ones who have been there from the start, than he is like Romney, who, beholden to none, would bring in no-names or lesser knowns, not because he owed them, but because they could do the job.

So, we can all dream about McCain-Romney. I can hope against hope that I'm wrong. But if it doesn't go to someone McCain likes, someone who McCain trusts implicitly, I'll be very, very surprised.