As host, McCain invites speculation

Guest list includes Romney, 2 others who may fill ticket

WASHINGTON - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain plans to host three potential running mates this weekend at his ranch in Sedona, Ariz. - including former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, one of his chief rivals for the GOP nomination.

A senior McCain aide confirmed yesterday that Romney and his wife, Ann, are among 20 couples McCain and his wife have invited for the weekend, along with Governor Charlie Crist of Florida and newly elected Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

But the aide insisted that the gathering "is a purely social visit" in a scenic part of Arizona.

"Senator McCain and Mrs. McCain often have friends and political acquaintances out to the cabin," said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the gathering. "This is a weekend of relaxing and visiting with friends. The vice presidential vetting process is definitely not on the agenda for this weekend."

One Republican with knowledge of the event, first reported by The New York Times on its website yesterday, said it "doesn't appear to be anything beyond that. This is not a let's-get-together-with-potential-VP-candidates" event.

Still, he seemed to acknowledge the obvious political overtones: "When you are invited to get together with Senator McCain, you do it. Because everyone's going to pitch in and help any way they can."

Romney, Crist, and Jindal have been widely mentioned as being on McCain's short list of possible vice presidential candidates. Despite their bruising primary fight, Romney has become an active surrogate for McCain in attacking Democratic front-runner Barack Obama, while Crist gave McCain a key endorsement before his crucial primary win in Florida in January, and Jindal, a 36-year-old Indian-American, is considered a rising GOP star.

Political analyst Larry Sabato said that from McCain's perspective the get-together makes sense for several reasons. When picking a running mate, McCain "needs to get to know them a little bit. But I think maybe they're trying to send a signal to the press so maybe the press will do some work for them" and scour the candidates' backgrounds.

Sabato, a University of Virginia political science professor, said McCain could have a third motive: using the high-profile guest list to draw attention away from another, more serious vice presidential candidate. He said McCain could be actually considering someone he knows well, such as Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, a Connecticut independent and the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Though they fought bitterly in the Republican primary, Romney would add key assets to a McCain ticket.

Having run a Boston private-equity firm, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and the state of Massachusetts for four years, Romney would bring management experience to a McCain presidency. Whereas McCain's specialty is foreign policy, Romney has domestic policy expertise, given his background in business, commerce, and healthcare, shoring up McCain's weakness on the economy - a potential liability for him in a general election.

Romney, a youthful-looking 61 years old, would also help counter perceptions that McCain, 71, is too old to be president. A prodigious fund-raiser with a vast personal fortune, Romney would help the Republican ticket compete with a Democratic fund-raising machine that has shattered all contribution records this cycle. And Romney also remains in good standing with segments of the social conservative movement. McCain needs conservatives' support to win in November, yet some remain suspicious of the candidate.

Sabato said a McCain-Romney ticket would also have liabilities.

Romney "brings nothing" to the table politically, because he'd be unlikely to help McCain carry any major states, and his presence on the ticket would raise more questions about his Mormon religion, Sabato said. Though Romney's background was vetted during the primary campaign, "just because he has been vetted doesn't mean there aren't problems."

And the nasty fight between the two Republicans during the primary might have left some hard feelings, Sabato said.

"Probably, they don't have chemistry," Sabato said. "They don't get along terribly well."

McCain and Romney traded increasingly nasty attacks verging on name-calling. McCain compared Romney to a pig and called him a flip-flopper, while Romney branded the Arizona senator a dishonest liberal just 10 days before offering him his endorsement in February. The two insisted at a press conference that they had set aside their differences for the common goal of keeping the White House in Republican hands.