Kasich Confirms Bush Approach over VP
C O L U M B U S, Ohio, July 11 -- U.S. Rep. John Kasich has been approachedby the George W. Bush campaign as a potential candidate for vicepresident, his spokesman said.
Spokesman Bruce Cuthbertson said today that Kasich, R-Ohio,has been asked to provide background information to former DefenseSecretary Dick Cheney, who is heading Bush’s vice presidentialsearch.
Kasich, who briefly made his own presidential run in 1999 before backing Bush, would not say what he has said to Cheney or whether hewould take the number two spot on the GOP ticket if it were offered.
“All I can say is that Dick Cheney asked me to get them someinformation,” Kasich, 48, told The Columbus Dispatch. “I havebeen contacted. That is all I will say, period.”
Kasich, the House Budget Committee chairman, chose not to runfor re-election this year. Ohio is considered to be one the main battleground states in this year’s election.
Short List of Five?U.S. News & World Report, which reported on Monday that Kasich is on the Bush campaign’s short list without citing its sources, also named four other potential running mates.
It said the others are Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, CaliforniaRep. Christopher Cox, Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar and Nebraska Sen.Charles Hagel.
Ohio Sen. George Voinovich, who has been mentioned as a possiblevice presidential candidate, was not on the list.
Ari Fleischer, Bush campaign spokesman in Austin, Texas,declined to discuss who had or had not been contacted.
“The governor is going to continue to complete this matter withprivacy and not share his thoughts on the front pages ofnewspapers,” Fleischer told the Dispatch.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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