Oz said:
If McCain loses, he will be remembered as part of a sinking ship in 2008.
Good point. Mondale (Carter's VP) got the nomination in 1984, but the general election didn't go well.
Also a reason why fellow fading-star Jack Kemp was Bob Dole's running mate in the hopeless (for the GOP) election of 1996 instead of an up-and-comer.
However, the Dems had a pool of candidates angling in 2004 -- Hillary was always seen as the heir apparent, but Obama broke out with his convention speech, Bayh has always been sniffing around the big chair, Edwards was in his first run. Howard Dean emerged, then screamed his way into oblivion as a candidate. You had a feeling that the Dems would have had a good pool of candidates for 2008.
The GOP is really struggling to find the next generation. There are some strong, likeable young Republicans who are strong with the base and potentially electable, but they're still working their way through and not as easily-recognizable yet. Romney is at the old end of that -- he's 60, but he has been a recent player on the national scene. Jindal is definitely going to be on one of the top two spots in the future. Michael Steele gave an excellent convention speech in 2004, and is involved pretty high in GOP ranks. A decade ago, J.C. Watts would've been pretty high on the list (he probably would've beaten W and McCain for the nomination had he decided to run in 2000), but he decided to retire to private life. Mark Sanford of SC isn't well-known, but is well-liked by conservatives. Charlie Crist of Florida doesn't play as well with the base, but he could be heard from again.
Any of those guys would benefit from being on the ticket in 08, to give them name recognition in 2012, even if Obama wins this year. You'll probably see a lot of Jindal & Steele brought to the forefront by the GOP in the next couple of years ... wouldn't be surprised if the other two (Sanford & Crist) show up quite a bit, too.