Sarah Palin suggested it and, now, Allen West says he’d consider it. On Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien this morning, the Florida Republican Congressman recounted his unexpected and relatively quick journey to his present position of prominence and said he’d be equally willing to take on a vice presidential run.

Sarah Palin was far from the first person to think that Allen West would be a compelling choice for the No. 2 spot on the ticket. Our own Patrick Ishmael has included Allen West as a potential VP candidate in Hot Air readership polls for months — and Hot Air readers have frequently vaulted him to the top of their preferred list. Still, Palin, as a former particularly energizing VP candidate herself, put West on the national vice presidential radar.

He’d make a better counterbalance to Mitt Romney than to Rick Santorum, though. The DNC and Debbie Wasserman Schultz will already hammer Santorum on “women’s issues.” Can you imagine the vengeance if West — who has directly called out DWS for her unladylike behavior — were on the ticket, too?

Regardless of whether he catapults to the national stage after a single term as a freshman congressman, though, West’s keen sense of patriotism and fresh tell-it-like-it-is approach to politics will ensure his popularity for years to come.