Gore cuts vice-president list to six

Gore cuts vice-president list to six
REUTERS

CHICAGO, AUG 4: White House hopeful Al Gore said on Thursday that he has cut his list of potential vice presidential running mate to "six, with one wild card".

Democratic sources identified six under consideration as four US Senators, House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt and New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen, who promptly said she was not interested.

Gore's "wild card", believed to be a seventh contender, was a mystery, one who aides were unable to immediately provide a clue on. "I just don't know," one senior adviser said.

Democratic sources identified the four senators as on the Gore list as John Kerry, 56, of Massachusetts; John Edwards, 47, of North Carolina; Evan Bayh, 44, of Indiana, and Joseph Lieberman, 58 of Connecticut.

Gore has arranged to announce his choice in Nashville, Tennessee, next Tuesday - six days before the Democratic convention begins in Los Angeles, where he and his running mate will be formally anointed as the party's standard bearers.

The vice-president trails his Republican opponent, Texas Governor George W Bush, in opinion polls ahead of the November 7 election. Gore was asked by reporters about his list of possible running mates as he wrapped up a vacation on North Carolina's Figure Eight Island.

"It is down to six, with one wild card that I haven't completely eliminated yet," said the vice-president, who returns to the campaign on Friday with a visit to Chicago.

A source familiar with the Gore's selection process said Kerry, Lieberman and Edwards were seen as the top three contenders, while another source said one of others on the list could still pull it out.

In Concord, New Hampshire, Shaheen's press secretary, Judy Reardon, said on Thursday: "The Governor doesn't expect Vice-President Gore to ask her but if he did she would wish him good luck and respectively decline the invitation.

Word of Gore's shortened list of possible running mates leaked out as the Republicans were wrapping up their national convention in Philadelphia, where Bush will accept the presidential nomination on Thursday night.

Gephardt has said publicly he would rather not be considered for the party's vice presidential nomination, and instead remain on Capitol Hill where he could help Democrats try to regain control of the House of Representatives from Republicans in the autumn election.

Yet, Gephardt has declined to say he would refuse to accept the No 2 spot on the Democratic ticket if Gore asked. Gephardt could help Gore shore up support among organised labour, a traditional ally of Democrats. A number of unions are upset with Gore for favouring expanded US trade with China that they fear could result in the loss of US jobs.

Lieberman is viewed as a favourite of the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist group which Gore helped found in 1985 and which Lieberman has chaired the past five years, said another source familiar with the selection process.