Cordell Hull was Secretary of State for almost 12 years under FDR. (Only resigned a few months before his boss died.)
If Romney loses, I think they'll put Ryan up. He's young, handsome and conservative. I don't think that Christie, who is a bit too NY (even though he's not a New Yorker in the literal sense) and far too moderate, would ever get the nod.
I don't think Hillary will run. Although she and her husband will always be the power couple in party, I think she's done. As for Cuomo, lots of people thought his dad would get the nomination back in the day, and then his career crashed and burned. Who knows?
What if it's Cuomo v. Christie in '16?
I just wonder if Willard loses, how will the GOP react? Sure they'll blame Sandy and the media* and Christie and Ryan and Not Raising Enough money and so forth in the immediate aftermath. But look at the Senate, where polls suggest the Dems will retain it. (Even in '10's landslide midterms for the GOP, they still found a way to lose the Senate.)
How will the party look at themselves? Will the base continue to marshall their (unelectable) Senate candidates down the party's throats? Will the base blame Willard for not being legitimately conservative enough to pass the voter smell test? Will more reasonable people blame the base for going too nuts and losing themselves an election that could've been theirs?
The immediate reaction might even get worse if Willard loses and all these guys on Fox News telling them repeatedly that the polls are biased, we're gonna win and we're gonna win in a landslide! Then wake up wednesday to find...neither happened?
*=Despite large segments (OK most) of the media against them, Eisenhower '56, Nixon '72, Reagan '80/'84, and Bush Sr. '88 all kicked electoral ass back when there was no Fox News. Blaming a biased media is a lameass excuse.
