With Donald Trump slipping, if not precipitously yet nonetheless seriously, in the polls, his choice of a vice-presidential candidate looms all the more important. The wrong choice could doom him, the right choice pull him up even, perhaps ahead of Hillary Clinton. As a not altogether disinterested observer, I should like to make some suggestions that I hope the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee might find worth pondering.

The advantages of Donald Trump’s taking on Chris Christie as his running mate are evident. More than a third of Americans are obese, and something like 74 percent of American men are said to be overweight. Governor Christie, a role model of sorts for full-figured Americans, ought to bring a substantial portion of these heavyset voters into the Trump camp, thereby demonstrating that overweight, while not necessarily beautiful, is far from disqualifying.