VEEP MADE TO ORDER?

By JEFFREY H. BIRNBAUM

Now that Bob Dole has appointed former Representative Robert Ellsworth to head his vice-presidential-search team, fresh wannaveeps are cropping up everywhere. The newest name being circulated by the conservative wing of the party is Congressman Christopher Cox. Who? Cox, 43, an articulate four-termer, is in many ways a composite of what Dole needs in a running mate. He is a Californian (Orange County) who can help the Kansan win the Golden State's treasure trove of 54 electoral votes. Cox also is a Roman Catholic who grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, thus appealing to the swing ethnic voters in the battleground states in the Midwest. And he has elite credentials: law and business degrees from Harvard and a staff job in the Reagan White House. His biggest drawback: someone so young would make Dole seem older than he already is. But the same was said about Dan Quayle.

--By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum