It’s the only buzz that’s been generated around the happily-in-the-shadows McCain campaign.

JMac and his handlers are quite happy to leave the ring to the marathon grudge match between Hillary and Obama; to a point.

Prolonged absence from the political headlines is never a good thing - especially when you’re the GOP nominee for president. Getting relegate to only a smattering of online buzz or a bit of negative press for a fresh round of unwarranted and foolish attacks on the Obama/Ayers non-connection? No mas.

So the Veep search has taken center stage, with the campaign set to ramp up the efforts as soon as the last vestiges of McCain’s bizarre LBJ-style tour across an impoverished America that will never vote Republican and about which most GOP voters (or most moderate/conservative voters, period) don’t necessarily care about.

The names of potential running mates for McCain have been flying around like crazy the last few days. Folks like Bobby Jindal (strictly to thwart the age question - as in, he who will take over if JMac keels…) and Mark Sanford have popped up, as well as highly unlikely dark horses like Carly Fiorina. Is she just back room insurance in case Hillary actually does get the nomination?

Romney’s still out there…

But The Huckster, former cozy adversary Mike Huckabee (who is about to launch “HuckPAC - what a name), is the name being rolled off of the tongue today. The two have been canoodling during McCain’s highly publicized visit to Huck’s home state of Arkansas and Little Rock during the big outreach tour. News conferences and lots of media availability led to the obvious conclusion that Huckabee is name #1 on the short list for a slot that McCain has repeatedly said he wants filled “as soon as possible.”

At a news conference in Little Rock, Huckabee pledged his support for his one-time rival.

“I believe that Arkansas will not only support Sen. McCain but will help him to become the next president of the United States. And I certainly pledge my every effort to help do that,” he said.

Huckabee said one of the “remarkable things” about McCain is that he’s “going out to places across the country that aren’t on the front pages but ought to be.”

McCain later said that Huckabee “can be a great asset to our campaign.”