Would a McCain-Romney ticket be winning?

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll suggests that Sarah Palin has become a major liability to John McCain, with 52 percent of likely voters stating that the Palin pick "weakens their confidence in his judgment."

Which raises the question: What if McCain had overcome his distaste for Mitt Romney and made him his running mate rather than Palin?

Yes, Mitt probably wouldn't have riled up the conservative base as effectively as Palin. And yes, some voters might have balked at Romney's Mormonism.

That said, while Romney has his faults, he's also a smart dude. He could have appealed to socially moderate, fiscally conservative independents in a way Palin doesn't. And he'd have shored up the McCain campaign's economic credentials at an especially opportune time.

So what do you think? If it were McCain-Romney instead of McCain-Palin, would Barack Obama still be the frontrunner?