Do Republicans need a woman to battle Hillary Clinton?

With conventional wisdom believing Hillary Clinton has a greater than 50% chance of being the 2016 nominee, does that mean Republicans will be pushed to counter with a female on the GOP ticket? If they were, who would that female be?

Report from Cheat Sheet:

Will Sarah Palin run against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election? No, it’s safe to say that she likely won’t. Though, as she said herself when asked, “never say never.”

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That hasn’t stopped back and forth discussion on whether or not she should run, on whether or not the idea has merit. When it comes down to it, Palin’s resurgence has to do with a number of things. She’s being suggested as a solution to the GOP’s failure to compete with Democratic candidates, and failure to reach potential voters by alienating possible swing votes with overemphasis on certain issues, and underemphasis on others. She’s female and has played a prominent role in past presidential elections, running as Vice President to John McCain, so when Republicans scramble for a woman’s voice in their party that could compete with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her name is near the surface.

Of course, that doesn’t make her the only woman in the Republican party being considered for a roll in 2016. Kelly Ayotte’s name has been batted around quite a bit for the Vice Presidency, though on who’s ticket is still uncertain. “Ayotte could turn the ‘war on women’ narrative into a punch line,” said Steve Schmidt, manager of John McCain’s 2008 bid, to The Daily Beast. “In the category of those really talented women who can really break into the next level, I think Kelly Ayotte stands out. She has a lot of skills. There’s no on-the-job training and she clears that hurdle.”

If Sarah Palin ran and didn’t outright win the nomination, is there anyone who would risk giving her the number two spot given her baggage from 2008? I think there is a zero percent chance. Kelly Ayotte or another rising female Republican star, on the other hand, there is certainly as good a chance as any on that possibility.