More About the No. 2 Slots

My recent post on possible running mates from among the nation's governors needs a follow-up, based on a report from CNN.

Minnesota's Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty told CNN's John King, "I don’t need a day job. I have one. I’m focused on being governor."

And Gov. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Fox News, "I do have a very important job at hand, which is governing Virginia." Kaine is a supporter of Barack Obama, and he told Fox, "I want to do everything I can to help Barack win Virginia, and I think I can do that as governor."

So Pawlenty and Kaine apparently are out of the veepstakes.

We're already guaranteed of having two senators running against each other for president, whether Obama or Hillary Clinton is nominated by the Democrats. But it now appears that two Republicans from the Senate aren't interested in sharing the GOP ticket with John McCain.

There has been much speculation here in Texas about the prospects for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson. But she told ABC's This Week, “I think that Sen. McCain has a lot of options, I think he has to look at a lot of different factors. I don’t want to be vice president."

Hutchinson was just re-elected to the Senate in 2006, with 62%. Her decision deprives McCain of a solid vote-getter who could assure him of the support of a large Southwestern state in the fall.

(Personally, I expect the Republicans to carry Texas this fall, anyway. The Lone Star State hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since Jimmy Carter in 1976 -- but, of course, the GOP ticket has had someone named George Bush on it in all but one of the elections since that time. And in the single exception? In 1996, Bob Dole won the state, but he received less than 50% of the vote.)

And Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, who has already decided against seeking re-election to the Senate this year, told CNN's King, “Chuck Hagel is out of the mix. I’m going to continue to focus on my job in the Senate, and do what I can to influence the direction of our country over the next year.”

Both parties will wind up with a running mate. It remains to be seen who those running mates are.

On a personal note, yesterday a response was posted to Sunday's blog entry about possible running mates from the gubernatorial ranks.

I have no objection at all to people posting responses to the things I write. In fact, I welcome the responses.

But this particular post was a blatant attempt by an aggressive campaign to draft one of the prospects I mentioned in my post. A link was posted, and readers were encouraged to click on the link and sign the online petition supporting the nomination of this prospect for vice president.

As soon as I became aware of this post, I took steps to delete it.

I post a lot of links on this blog. I maintain a list of all the websites for all the active candidates for president. I post links to most of the articles to which I refer in my writings. If I feel a link will contribute to the reader's understanding of an issue, I post it.

But it is not my intention to endorse or appear to endorse anyone's candidacy.

I have asked readers to provide information that will help me decide how to vote when I participate in next week's Texas primary. And I have acknowledged that my party affiliation is centrist Democrat.

But beyond that, I have tried to avoid direct references to my personal political philosophy.

And I want this to be absolutely clear. While I welcome posts from any reader who wants to further discuss points I make or questions I ask in my writings, I will continue to delete any responses like the one yesterday that are designed to promote a candidacy.