The veepstakes goes 'Apprentice': Will Trump really pick Rubio, Vance or Burgum?

For months, the media-industrial complex has churned out useless speculation about the veepstakes, much of it generated by the wannabe candidates themselves. 

Out of nowhere, these stories would appear: Tom Cotton, an unusually strong candidate! Ben Carson! Byron Donalds! Glenn Youngkin! People who you knew, whatever their qualifications, didn’t really have a shot at becoming Donald Trump’s running mate.

And then there was the former president himself, who met or campaigned with most of the contenders...