BOCA RATON, Fla. — The Democratic presidential front-runner, Barack Obama, took his first step toward selecting a running mate, asking a prominent supporter to begin the search process, while his likely GOP opponent, Sen. John McCain, prepared to spend the weekend with three potential vice presidential picks.
Former Fannie Mae chief executive Jim Johnson will head up Obama’s vetting team, Democratic sources said. Johnson played a similar role for Democratic nominees John Kerry and Walter Mondale and joined the Obama campaign last year as a vice chairman.
But Obama and his aides downplayed the move, describing it as a preliminary exercise and stressing that they remain focused on the Democratic primary battle with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“I haven’t hired him. He’s not on retainer. I’m not paying him any money. He is a friend of mine,” Obama told reporters outside the Senate, where he returned Thursday to vote for an Iraq funding bill.
“I am not commenting on vice presidential matters because I have not won this nomination,” he said.
McCain’s list is long
Aides to McCain, meanwhile, are working quietly behind the scenes to vet possible vice presidential candidates, and they were equally reluctant to talk about the process.
“We just don’t discuss the vice presidential selection process,” said a McCain spokeswoman, Jill Hazelbaker.
But Republicans familiar with the McCain process said campaign aides were conducting extensive background checks on what one called “a long list” that stretched into double digits.
McCain is eyeing a range of possible running mates that include GOP Govs. Charlie Crist of Florida, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana; former Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; and one of McCain’s primary opponents, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Crist, Jindal and Romney will all visit McCain’s ranch in Sedona, Ariz., this weekend.
“More work to do”
Obama aides are guarding carefully against offering any appearance of overconfidence as he and Clinton continue their campaign through the final primaries in Montana and South Dakota on June 3.
“We’ve got a little more work to do,” he told a group of Jewish voters at a Boca Raton synagogue. But Obama added, “Two weeks from now, we will know who the Democratic nominee is going to be.”
Clinton’s campaign kept its focus on breaking the Florida and Michigan delegate impasse, viewing the seating of those delegations as her best chance for remaining viable in the nomination contest. The campaign also circulated new polls to bolster their argument that Clinton remains the stronger general election candidate against McCain.
The New York senator has vowed to remain in the race until the unsanctioned Florida and Michigan primaries are recognized. Her supporters are pressuring Democratic Party officials for a verdict that would help Clinton to narrow Obama’s lead in pledged delegates.
