Mitt Romney declared last night that he would jump at the chance to be vice president if Republican John McCain offered the number two slot.
"I think any Republican leader in this country would be honored to be asked to serve as the vice presidential nominee, myself included," Romney said on Fox News Channel.
In his first interview after leaving the GOP race, the former Massachusetts governor also called Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama "Chihuahuas" and McCain the "big dog" on national security. Unlike many other Republicans, Romney said he hopes Obama wins the Democratic nomination because his inexperience makes him an easier target for McCain.
During the primary campaign, Romney tussled with McCain, who at one point compared Romney to a pig. But Romney endorsed the Arizona senator after suspending his campaign last month and said last night there are no hard feelings.
FOON RHEE
"The politics of 2008 is not going to enter into my calculation," Bush said in a speech to the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville. "It is the peace of the years to come that will enter into my calculation."
Bush said his decision to add troops in Iraq has been a success, and some of them have been able to come home as the country stabilizes in its fight against the insurgency.
General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top US military commander and diplomat in Iraq, will testify before Congress on April 8 and 9 on security conditions there and progress toward national reconciliation. Their reports may help set the level of US forces in Iraq for the second half of the year and perhaps through the end of Bush's presidency in January 2009.
BLOOMBERG
Until then, the last reported results - from 41 percent of the precinct caucuses - show Obama ahead with 56 percent to Clinton's 44 percent. The state Democratic Party gave up Monday on its effort to produce a running public tally of the count.
An estimated 1 million Democrats - far more than ever before - showed up for the caucuses, which were held right after voting ended in the first part of the Democratic contest: a standard primary. The huge turnout played havoc with the caucuses, creating confusion, long waits, and even a few calls to the police to calm frustrations late on March 4.
Obama has won at least 31 delegates from the caucuses and Clinton has won at least 27, according to the Associated Press count. The remaining nine delegates will be awarded after the official results are announced.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an uncommitted superdelegate, said yesterday that Clinton has basically ruled out the possibility by suggesting that Republican John McCain is more ready to be commander in chief than Obama.
"I think that ticket either way is impossible," Pelosi told NECN.
Obama threw cold water Monday on speculation stoked by Clinton and her supporters about a joint ticket. He declared emphatically that he is not running for vice president.
FOON RHEE
Jane Swift, who preceded Romney, broke with her fellow Republican chief executives and endorsed McCain's White House bid. She did so even though her predecessors as governor, William F. Weld and Paul Cellucci, were backing the campaigns of Romney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, respectively.
Swift said in an e-mail: "The benefit I expect is the peace of mind of knowing that John McCain will be our president."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
