One approach for Mitt Romney would be what opponents might call a double-vanilla ticket, with another white male as vice presidential nominee. Four possibilities come to mind.

Unless the public intervenes, a new rule will make patients sicker.

When Vladimir Putin returns to the Russian presidency on Monday, May 7, the pageantry surrounding his inauguration will aim to portray a picture of unassailable strength, a confident master of his domain invulnerable to pressures from within or without. But things are not quite as stable...

Political dysfunction. Partisanship at record levels. Attack politics run amok. And public approval of Congress scraping the single digits (Sen. John McCain is fond of saying it's down to blood rlatives and paid staff).

The Obama budget is already being ripped by Republicans as a political document and by deficit hawks for its failure to attack the debt problem vigorously enough. But in context, it is worth a brief comparison to the Romney and Santorum visions.

For decades, conservatives have won elections by wooing white, working-class swing voters with positions they approved of on crime, foreign policy and cultural issues. Economic growth allowed Republicans to expand most government spending programs while simultaneously keeping taxes stable. For both economic and political reasons, this balancing act is no longer possible.

The key to overall prosperity lies in balancing the budget through spending reductions, government reforms, and the adoption of incentives that reward work, savings and investment, without raising taxes.

The $489 billion cut to defense budgets engineered by Barack Obama — as well as the played-for-fool Republican accomplices on Capitol Hill — won't just mean less American military power. These cuts have significant consequences for America's allies, as well. Consider the case of the...