Apparently, Senator McCain will be unleashing his VP in Dayton, OH this coming Friday after the Democratic Convention.  Of course, he will also be celebrating his birthday that day as well.
    Given the location of the event and McCain's need to shore up his economic gravitas, I believe, McCain will chose former Rep. Rob Portman of OH to be his running mate.  Portman has the following economic expertise working in his favor (from Wiki):

Portman was a member of the Ways and Means Committee and vice chair of the Budget Committee.... Most recently, he was Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Prior to this appointment, Portman was the United States Trade Representative, a post carrying the rank of Ambassador

I believe this experience coupled with an ability to explain trade and tax policy to an Ohio voter (and voters at large) will seal the deal for him to take the spot as Republican VP.

Second, Portman is suggested by some (Novak) to be Bush's hand-picked choice for McCain's running mate.  True, McCain could want to get as far from Bush as possible.  However, I would add, why start now?  According to the Wiki article:

Very close to President George W. Bush, he acted as the liaison between Congressional Republicans and the White House during the first four years of the Bush administration. In nominating him for the trade post, President Bush called Portman "a good friend, a decent man, and a skilled negotiator."....Later, a public, ceremonial swearing-in was performed by then-White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card on May 17, 2005, with his friend President Bush in attendance. On April 18, 2006 President Bush nominated him to fill the role of Budget Director; its former director, Joshua B. Bolten was promoted to White House Chief of Staff.

Furthermore, Portman was popular when he was a Representative in Ohio, easily winning re-election several times and by large margins. 

Portman was also known as a congressman who reached across the aisle, another key in McCain's branding this election season.  He was best known for legislation on the IRS, eliminating capital gains taxes, environmental protection for trees, and easing ex-cons adaption back to society, and curbing unfunded mandates.  I think many of those issues will align very well with McCain's supposed maverick status while also catering to the GOP base.

In conclusion, perhaps Portman's hometown paper described him best as having "two personas: the well-connected Congressman who would surface on cable news channels as a 'talking head' for the Bush led agenda and another as the politician who drove himself from one small town pancake breakfast or Kiwanis luncheon to another in a district stretching 100 miles plus."


I would also look at this Newsweek blog on Portman, some great info here.  Newsweek agrees he is a strong contender:

 ...he'd probably do more to help the senator be effective once he reaches the White House than any other VP contender.......a perfect economic mouthpiece for McCain, who's notoriously weak on what's become the top voter concern of 2008. But it's Portman's nuts-and-bolts understanding of how the executive branch works--especially with Congress on money issues--that should appeal to McCain. Portman was the first President Bush's liaison to Capitol Hill, whereworked to restructure the IRS and ran the Administration's efforts to pass a controversial unfunded mandates measure; since then, he's helped the second President Bush expand free-trade agreements and structure the federal budget. "Rob understands government to a degree and at a level that most people don't achieve without serving as vice president or president," Robert Paduchik, Bush's campaign manager in Ohio in 2004, told Salon. That's exactly the kind of sidekick McCain--a lifetime legislator mostly interested in foreign policy--will need if and when he moves into the White House. None of Portman's fellow VP possibilities have comparable credentials.