Clinton might no longer be on Obama's list of running mates

NEW YORK: Former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who engaged Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama in a tough nomination battle, may no longer be in the reckoning for his running mate, a media report has said.
    
There is mounting evidence that Obama's interest in Clinton for the post has faded considerably, said the New York Times, pointing out that his advisers have discussed Clinton's role at the Democratic convention next month in a way that suggests they are not thinking of her as the candidate.
    
When Obama appeared on NBC channel's "Meet the Press" on Sunday he offered a description of the kind of person he was looking for, hinting it would not be someone who was strongly identified with Washington -- a choice that appears to leave out Clinton, the Times said.
    
Meanwhile, Clinton has told associates in recent days that she thinks there is little chance Obama will pick her and that the public pronouncements made by some of his aides that she is under review were nothing more than a courtesy.
    
Clinton, the daily said, has not been asked to provide written documentation to the committee vetting background of candidates for Obama. Although she needs less flyspecking than anyone else considering how long she has been in public life.
    
The silence from that corner, however, is being taken by Clinton's advisers as evidence of her not being on the list.
    
But boosters of the New York senator have not given up.
    
"If he picks Hillary he gets her 18 million supporters and we would win in a cakewalk and control the White House for 16 years," Terry McAuliffe, who was chairman of her campaign, told the Times Sunday in an interview.
    
Yet McAuliffe, in a separate interview on MSNBC, seemed to acknowledge Clinton's diminished chances when he said he expected her role at the convention to consist of delivering a speech on Tuesday night.
    
If history is any guide, the vice presidential candidate speaks on Wednesday night; Obama's advisers said they had not decided when Clinton would speak, the paper said.
    
However, Obama by every indication, has not yet reached a final decision, the Times said.
    
Given the political strength Clinton exhibited as she dueled with Obama to the end of the primary season, it is conceivable that Obama would turn to her -- say, if polls over the next few weeks suddenly show him struggling against Republican John McCain.
    
But Obama's associates told the paper that for a variety of reasons, the African-American candidate is not looking to Clinton serving with him in the White House.
    
Obama's aides are confident that passions of the primary season have given way to a more pragmatic view among Clinton's supporters and that the Illinois senator would not risk a major backlash from women or other constituencies associated with her if the VP slot goes to someone else.
    
The list of potential candidates includes Senators Evan Bayh of Indiana and Joseph R Binden Jr of Delaware, as well as Gov Tim Kaine of Virginia, and other names of varying degrees of plausibility, the paper said.
    
The Democratic convention begins Aug 25 in Denver, and Obama was said to be considering an announcement the week before, although aides said it could be earlier.
    
Obama's advisers, said the Times, contend that a central message of his campaign -- that he would represent a break from the way politics is conducted in Washington -- would be tarnished by the act of linking himself to the family that has dominated Democratic politics since Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992.
    
Several of his associates also said they were wary of trying to manage a campaign that included Clinton.