Monmouth University — the New Jersey school with an expanding public polling operation — asked voters last month whether a dozen different possible running mates would make them more or less likely to support each party’s ticket.

Most of the candidates didn’t move the needle — even those who are well-known in Washington.

“That’s usually what really happens,” said Monmouth pollster Patrick Murray. Voters, Murray said, don’t make the same calculus that strategists do when considering possible running mates.

“While pundits will belabor regional balance and ideological balance and personality and all of these things, voters don’t really look at that,” he said. “They look at: Did you make a solid choice?”