Which GOP pols, if picked as '12 VP nominee, would become the 2016 frontrunner?

[Vosem]

As food justice pointed out, Charles Pinckney was the last to pull it off; he was the losing VP candidate in 1800 and then the losing presidential candidate in 1804. However, for most of its history the VP slot was irrelevant, but it's been steadily gaining power since the 1950s (ironic, as presidential deaths have become less common than they used to be). Could a competent pol pull it off in the modern day? Yeah, it seems pretty likely. I don't think 2012/2016 are the cycles for that, though.