Former senators
John Edwards and Sam Nunn are on a list of potential
running mates for Democrat Barack Obama, a congresswoman
said Thursday, one day after she met with the team
Obama has reviewing possible candidates.
Rep. Carolyn
Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Michigan Democrat who leads the
Congressional Black Caucus, said members of the caucus asked
her to forward the names of Edwards and Nunn when she
met Wednesday with Obama's vice presidential search
team. The team, Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder,
indicated the two were on the list. Many LGBT activists have
objected to Nunn based on his role in establishing the
military's discriminatory "don't ask, don't tell"
policy.
''We've been
brainstorming in the Congressional Black Caucus. Former
senator Sam Nunn's name has come up, as well as John
Edwards's name has come up among our CBC members,''
Kilpatrick said in an interview with the Associated
Press. "I reported that to them, and they had both of
those names on their list."
Kilpatrick said
she made suggested several other names during the
45-minute meeting, including former vice president Al Gore,
Pennsylvania representative John Murtha, and Ohio
governor Ted Strickland. Gore endorsed Obama on
Monday.
''I asked them
what type of person the senator is looking for? And they
said in general someone who could help him rebuild the
country ... talking about change. How we reinvest in
America, get people back to work, and reinforce our
education system and bring the jobs back,'' she said.
She declined to
say which names were put forth by Kennedy and Holder. The
prominent Democratic attorneys have been meeting with
lawmakers on Capitol Hill to receive feedback on
Obama's potential running mate. Obama has said he
won't discuss the process until he's made his choice.
Kilpatrick said
that when she noted that Gore was her personal choice,
''they had a smile on their face. They have a list of
candidates. I think I may have been the first to do
that. They didn't say one way or the other.''
But she wasn't
the only one to mention Gore.
Democratic
congressman Joe Baca of California, chairman of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus, met Wednesday with Kennedy
and Holder. A former Clinton supporter, he offered
Clinton's name but said he mentioned others too. Those
included Edwards, senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd,
Gore, Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius, and Arizona
governor Janet Napolitano.
''These are all
good names,'' Baca said. ''Ultimately the decision will
be up to Obama.''
Edwards, a former
North Carolina senator who was John Kerry's running
mate in 2004, could help Obama appeal to white working-class
voters who largely favored Clinton in the primary and
will be a critical voting bloc in the general
election. The drawback is that Edwards was the vice
presidential nominee on a losing ticket four years ago,
while Obama's campaign is about turning the page.
Edwards has said
he is not seeking the vice presidency -- but hasn't
ruled out accepting if asked.
''I'd take
anything he asked me to think about seriously, but obviously
this is something I've done and it's not a job that I'm
seeking,'' Edwards said last Sunday on ABC's This Week.
Nunn would bring
national security credentials to the ticket, having
served as the longtime Armed Services Committee chairman.
The former Georgia senator is a member of Obama's
foreign policy advisory group.
But Nunn has not
been in office for more than a decade, so he is not
well-known nationally. He is a conservative Democrat who
supported school prayer and opposed gays in the
military, while Obama tends to have a more liberal
viewpoint. Nunn will turn 70 in September.
Other lawmakers
who have been briefed say there about 20 names on the
list Obama's team has been discussing. The list includes
current elected officials, former elected officials,
and retired military generals, lawmakers have said.
Kilpatrick said
most of the names she was asked about were in the Senate.
(Ken Thomas, AP, with additional reporting by The
Advocate)