Vice-Presidential Speculation Season has arrived early this year, thanks to the unusual dynamics of the 2016 election. With John Kasich, Ted Cruz, and Bernie Sanders all attempting to become their party’s nominee by forcing a contested convention, they’ve already begun dropping hints as to whom they would want as their potential running mates.

The V.P. chatter began in earnest this weekend, when Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta told The Boston Globe the short list will include a woman—prompting immediate speculation about Elizabeth Warren, the wildly popular Massachusetts senator who has yet to endorse either Democratic candidate. The buzz surrounding potential female V.P.s built on Monday, when a Cruz aide said that the Texas senator was in the process of vetting Carly Fiorina, the former HP executive who dropped her own White House bid in February. There are reportedly several other people on Cruz’s list, but Fiorina is the only confirmed name so far. (“Nice try,” Cruz told a reporter who asked him about the size of the list).

But when you drop one name, the rest start falling. Later Monday, Rudy Giuliani suggested that Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state and current Stanford professor, would be a good pick to run alongside Donald Trump. The former New York mayor and current Trump supporter also suggested that Kasich would be a solid second-in-command, a thought that would likely rankle the prickly Ohio governor, given that his campaign announced over the weekend that he, too, was assembling a veep short list.

Not one to be left out, Sanders joined in on the fun Tuesday, suggesting on Morning Joe that while it’s “a little too early to be speculating” about a vice-presidential pick, he thought that Warren would be well qualified. In campaign parlance, that’s essentially a suggestion that Sanders wants her as his running mate. (Given the slate of primary states Clinton is likely to pick up Tuesday night, making her nomination a near-certain mathematical probability, Warren may be running out of time to throw in her lot with Sanders, if that were her inclination.)

Trump, for his part, has already floated several hypothetical V.P. picks, though most are people he’s so insulted that it is hard to imagine any of them swallowing their pride and coming over to his side. (To be fair, that is precisely what Ben Carson and Chris Christie have done.)

For the three candidates who are not the front-runners—Cruz, Kasich, and Sanders—hyping a possible running mate would be a strategic decision rife with P.R. risk. If their potential or confirmed V.P. is received well by the public, it could offer a major electoral boost by signaling their seriousness and suggesting the character of their future administration. But rounding out their ticket too early could also be seen as desperate—a particularly real possibility for Kasich and Sanders, who stand little chance of winning their party’s nominations. It might also be a futile exercise, since vice-presidential candidates are also selected by ballot at the convention. Still, with zero chance of winning on a first ballot, Cruz, Kasich, and Sanders might as well try whatever gambits they have left.