Vice presidential tidings in Quinnipiac poll

The pollsters at Quinnipiac University this morning provided the presidential candidates some free advice as they try to settle on running mates: Gov. Ed Rendell is right that he wouldn't be a great running mate, former Gov. Tom Ridge wouldn't be much help and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) would likely do more harm than good.

Those are the conclusions drawn from the poll of swing states, including Pennsylvania, released this morning, The poll found U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) leading U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by 12 points in Pennsylvania, and by narrower margins in Florida and Ohio.

But Obama might take a word of caution from the pollsters about choosing Clinton as his running mate, something many of her supporters have pushed. Independents were largely turned off by the idea in the poll, and even 31 percent of Democrats surveyed said it was a bad idea.

"If Sen. Obama is seriously thinking about picking Sen. Clinton as his running mate, these numbers might cause him to reconsider," assistant polling director Peter Brown said. "The people who really matter come November--independent voters--turn thumbs down on the idea. And many say they are less likely to vote for him if he puts her on the ticket."

Nor should Obama consider Rendell, whose name has been widely floated as a possible running mate, to be much of a political asset (something Rendell has repeatedly said himself). As many as 25 percent of voters would be less likely to support Obama with Rendell at his side, and 56 percent said it wouldn't make a difference.

As for McCain's running mate, many in local political circles had speculated that Ridge would be a good bet for delivering a state that hasn't gone Republican in 20 years. But 62 percent surveyed said it wouldn't make a difference if Ridge were on the ticket; 18 percent said it would make them more likely to vote for McCain, but the same number said it would make them less likely to throw their support behind the Republican canddiate.