Election 2008
(2008-08-28)
USREPORT-USA-POLITICS-MCCAIN-THREAT-DC
Republican presidential candidate John McCain decided on a running mate early Thursday, and top prospects waited to hear from the nominee-in-waiting.
"There's nothing really new to report on Senator McCain's decision. I think we'll all hear from him shortly and hopefully we'll be able to move forward together," Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told the Associated Press in Minneapolis. Earlier in Denver and without explanation, Pawlenty called off an AP roundtable interview as well as other media appearances at the site of the Democratic National Convention.
Another prospective candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney met with donors throughout California on Thursday and was in Los Angeles and Orange County by evening. "I don't have anything for you right now," Romney said earlier in the day when asked about the vice presidential search.
McCain will appear with his No. 2 at an Ohio rally on Friday, aides said, though they provided no details on whom he had chosen to join the Republican ticket. At least two more rallies are planned for Pennsylvania and Missouri in the run up to next week's convention.
Others believed to be in contention include Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who was vacationing on New York's Long Island, and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.
However, fueling speculation that McCain had chosen either Pawlenty or Romney or another conservative Republican, two GOP officials said they believed McCain had picked a traditional candidate. They based their conclusion on the fact that the campaign, which once had put the party on notice to prepare for the possibility of an unconventional candidate, does not have preparations in place to curb the fallout from a right flank that certainly would revolt if Ridge, an abortion-rights backer, or Lieberman, a former Democrat, was on the ticket.
It also was possible that McCain would choose a dark horse from any number of names that have circulated.
© Copyright 2012, Associated Press
