If Americans had to choose from the current Republican field, the lastest Harris polling shows that Mr. Obama would beat them all save for two — Governor Romney and Congressman Paul. The polling news was brought in Tuesday by Harris, whose most recent tally shows that in a head-to-head race Governor Romney would beat President Obama by something like 53% to 47. If Ron Paul were the Republican nominee, the Harris Poll reckons, he would beat President Obama 51% to 49%. So the thought presents itself: What about a ticket comprising the opposing personas of Messrs. Romney and Paul?

On the face of it the idea seems absurd. Governor Romney is a centrist Republican who has only lately come to the idea that it’s okay to criticize the Federal Reserve. He has stated that he would let no light shine between a Romney administration and Israel. Dr. Paul, in contrast, has operated on the rightward edge of his party. He’s made the repeal of the Federal Reserve Act a goal of his career. His libertarian principles have led him to campaign against America’s foreign and military aid to Israel. Those are but two of the differences that obtain between the two.

Just — or at least — as a thought experiment, though, one could consider the contrary. Dr. Paul has a huge, impassioned following. It’s no small thing that a congressman is polling ahead of an incumbent president, and it no doubt reflects his long adherence to the principles of limited, constitutional government that would maximize liberty. Dr. Paul has an almost ethereal manner, and doesn’t exude what might be called the “executive personality.” He is, one could argue, an educator more than a c.e.o.

But wouldn’t that be a perfect fit for a governor turned president, which is what Mr. Romney would be? Particularly if one considers that Mr. Romney suffers, at least in the view of many, from being a centrist and accommodator, rather than committed libertarian. In other words, it is possible to imagine that Dr. Paul would bring, with his fierce sense of principle, a virtue to the team that Mr. Romney is in need of. And that Mr. Romney’s overall policy mix could benefit from some of Dr. Paul’s ideas.

Dr. Paul has been fighting for more than 30 years for the principle of enumerated powers. His time in grade on the monetary issue is second to none. At a time of crisis he is willing to advance radical approaches, such as using the second of the two constitutional war powers — the letter of marque and reprisal — against al Qaeda. He has a bill in the congress to legalize the private minting of coins, which could set up a parallel monetary system to compete against the dollar.

Harris’s recent findings are only one poll. No doubt there will be others and the things will change. It will be illuminating to see polling on how Mr. Romney would do against Messrs. Obama and Biden with any number of vice presidential possibilities. But the question of a Vice President Paul intrigues us. This isn’t an endorsement, and Dr. Paul has his eye on president, not vice president. But it would be terrific to see the campaign for monetary reform elevated somehow to the national ticket.