McCain Is Looking for a Veep

Thursday, April 3, 2008

'GETTING TOGETHER A LIST'

McCain Is Looking for a Veep

ANNAPOLIS -- John McCain said Wednesday that he is "getting together a list" of names to be his running mate, but he said the process is in its early stages.

Talking to shock jock Don Imus, McCain said he would prefer to choose a running mate well before the Republican National Convention in September to avoid last-minute "mistakes that I've seen made in the past as you get into a time crunch." McCain, who is 71, added that he understood the "enhanced importance of this issue given my age."

Later, McCain made the third stop in his a week-long tour to remind voters of his personal background -- in this case his graduation from the Naval Academy. For the event, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, capacity 35,000, McCain's campaign had set up 64 chairs in a small corner of the stadium.

A cold wind whipped across the empty stadium grounds as McCain decried the "corrosive cynicism" of our time and said that Americans had lost a sense of citizenship. He said he hoped that Americans would again commit themselves to service to the country, either in the military or by working for government.

"Although it exists apart from government, citizenship is the habits and institutions that preserve democracy," he said. "It is the ways, small and large, we come together to govern ourselves. Citizenship is the responsible exercise of freedom, and is indispensable to the functioning of a democracy."

-- Michael D. Shear

A TASTE OF PHILADELPHIA

Obama Savors Gourmet Pork

PHILADELPHIA -- Barack Obama doesn't eat much. He's skinny, as he often describes himself, and he's actually lost weight on the campaign trail.

But during a walking tour Wednesday morning of the Italian Market here, Obama ate, and ate, and ate some more. In Claudio Specialty Food, Obama perused the cheese selection, bit into a slice of provolone and dropped a thin slice of salami into his mouth. Owner Sal Auriemma wrapped up a quarter-pound of salami, provolone, mozzarella and baked ricotta for the senator.

Down the street at Di Bruno Bros., he sampled the asiago and the Birchrun Blue, a new farmhouse blue made in Chester Springs. "That's good stuff. What else you got for me?" Obama asked.

Ezekial Ferguson, a self-described Obama fan, held out a slice of pata negra, a fancy Spanish ham, explaining that it had only recently been legalized in the United States. "What do you mean just legalized? It's so good it's like a drug or something?" Obama asked. "Pretty much, yeah, just wait," Ferguson said.

Ferguson explained that the ham, which Obama tried, came from a black-hoofed Iberico wild pig that wanders around eating acorns. Obama settled up with a quarter-pound of "Shellbark Shark" goat cheese, $25.99 per pound and produced at a West Chester farm from a herd of 33 purebred Nubian goats, before posing for a photo with Ferguson and leaving with a bag with enough food for a pretty fancy picnic lunch.

-- Shailagh Murray

EYE ON THE CONVENTION

Fla. Delegation Booked for Denver

After months of tension, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean offered Florida's Democratic House delegation an olive branch at a meeting at DNC headquarters Wednesday: He booked them hotel rooms for the party's convention in Denver.

Dean pledged to do everything in his power to seat Florida's convention delegates, months after he stripped the state of its convention voice after it moved its primary forward against party rules. Florida House members said the tone of the meeting was a breakthrough.

"Good tone, good tenor, everybody's on the same page," declared Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.). "I now have confidence we can get this thing done."

But Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) admitted they were no closer to figuring out how those delegates would be apportioned. Hillary Rodham Clinton wants the results of the nullified Jan. 29 primary respected, while Barack Obama wants a 50-50 split so the apportionment wouldn't affect his lead. Wasserman Schultz said everyone agreed it would take a few more contests to decide on the math.

In a joint statement after the meeting, the participants said: "While there may be differences of opinion in how we get there, we are all committed to ensuring that Florida's delegation is seated in Denver."

-- Jonathan Weisman