Va. governor mum on Obama running mate slot
RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine isn't adding to talk that he's on Barack Obama's shortlist of potential running mates.
Appearing on Washington radio station WTOP's monthly "Ask The Governor" program Tuesday, he wouldn't discuss his prospects of becoming the Democratic nominee for vice president.
Kaine said it's flattering to be mentioned. Beyond that, he said, "I'm just not going to talk about my conversations with the campaign." Kaine has been a co-chairman of Obama's campaign since February 2007.
Asked outside the station afterward if he had any interest in the job, Kaine told reporters: "I haven't sought it. I'm not running for it. I'm not asking for it. I've never asked anything of the campaign." He said he could best help right now by keeping Obama competitive in Virginia.
Kaine, however, said in May he wouldn't turn the opportunity down if Obama offered it. "If it happened, it would be hard to tell him no," Kaine said in an AP interview.
If Kaine joins the ticket and is elected vice president, that would force Kaine to relinquish the fourth year of his term to a Republican, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling.
Reporters asked Tuesday if his fluency in Spanish would be an asset on the national ticket and Kaine responded, "They're going to have to decide what's an appropriate mixture of skills."
On the broadcast, Kaine deflected a question about whether he intended to meet with Obama on Tuesday while in Washington, but he did so without specifically ruling out talking to Obama's campaign. Kaine said he planned to spend time in Washington with his 13-year-old daughter, Annella, who traveled to the studio with him.
"I don't have any plans for any meeting with anybody on anything today other than pure family," he added outside afterward.
He became terse when pressed during the show on whether he had been asked by Obama's vetting team to turn over old income tax returns and other financial documents.
"Those conversations are between me and the campaign, and that's what I'll say," he said.
In February 2007, Kaine became the first governor outside Illinois, Obama's home state, to endorse his bid for the Democratic nomination. Obama and Kaine are personally close and politically compatible.
Kaine could help Obama in Virginia, a battleground state in the race for the first time in decades.
The last Democrat Virginia supported for president was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Democrats, however, have won the past two gubernatorial elections -- including Kaine's unexpectedly easy victory in 2005. In 2006, the Democrats' first-time Senate candidate, Jim Webb, stunned Republican Sen. George Allen, a former governor. Last year, Democrats took control of the state Senate for the first time in 12 years.