Anchorage Daily News

PHILADELPHIA -- There has been plenty of talk of "cellulosic ethanol" and "state-federal partnerships" during the National Governors Association meeting in Philadelphia, but presidential politics has created the real buzz in the halls -- specifically, whether one of them might be tapped to run for vice president.

At one point, the moderator of a Saturday session asked, half-jokingly, if anybody was interested in the job. As nervous laughter rippled around the hall, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack turned to Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat prominently mentioned as a possible pick for Sen. Barack Obama.

"Kathleen, do you want to answer that question?" Vilsack said.

She wouldn't take the bait, but on Sunday Sebelius found herself campaigning for Obama in a union hall -- the kind of duty that cannot hurt a politician's chances.

"It's a little bit surreal," Sebelius, 60, said afterward about the attention. "I just try to keep my head down and do my day job. I'm not packing any suitcases or choosing any drapes."

The centennial gathering of the bipartisan NGA, which ends today, seemed like a kind of job fair for would-be vice presidents, with more people reputed to be on the short lists of Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain gathered there than in any other single place on earth.

People such as Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican who won reelection in 2006 amid the party's midterm drubbing. And Virginia's Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine, an early Obama supporter in a competitive state.

Other Republican possibles in attendance included Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, a particular favorite of fiscal conservatives.

"You can't jockey for something you have no control over," Sanford said. "Do I think there's even a remote chance of that lightning strike coming my way? No."

"We basically just kid around about it," said Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell, the host who is slated to become chairman of the NGA today. As for his own prospects, "I think I've done a good job persuading them that I'm not interested, and also a good job persuading them that they shouldn't be interested in me."

Rendell, who supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the nomination, said he believes Obama needs somebody with foreign policy experience who won't make any verbal mistakes on the campaign trail. "That's not me," he said.

Because both presumptive nominees are senators, governors have received the most attention as possible running mates.

It's an odd turn for the NGA, which for the past eight elections has had a member or former member nominated for president: Jimmy Carter of Georgia; Ronald Reagan of California; Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts; Arkansas' Bill Clinton; and George W. Bush.

Other prominent possibilities were absent. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, was in Baton Rouge working. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, also seen as a possible running mate for McCain, is on a 10-day European trade mission.

"Governor certainly is the best preparation in terms of executive decision-making," Rendell said. "Barack Obama and John McCain have never had executive decision-making. Ever. Every governor in that room ... knows about having to make a budget work, knows about raising taxes, knows about responding to crises."

Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer Marcia Gelbart contributed to this report.

ADVERTISEMENT