Would this deflect the Bain attacks?

The hottest political betting market at the moment has nothing to with the Tory rebellion on Lords reform last night – rather the focus of punters is on who Mitt Romney will choose as his running mate for November’s presidential election.

Normally we would not have expected an announcement much before the party convention at the end of August but the signs are that this might be earlier.

Romney, who became a national figure with the Salt Lake City winter Olympics, is heading for the London games in a fortnight and the buzz is that he’ll make an announcement before then.

He’s under some pressure to change the narrative from the current questioning of his time at Bain where the Obama campaign seems to have found an effective line of attack in the crucial swing states.

My money is on his choice being a woman following the heavy hints from Ann Romney last week. Wives can have a huge influence on their husbands on such matters and I don’t think she would have made the comments she did without there being some foundation.

If you accept this line you can narrow the field down very sharply

Mike Smithson @MSmithsonPB