DAYTON, Ohio (AFP) — The rumor mill went into overdrive Thursday as Republican White House hopeful John McCain appeared poised to unveil his vice-presidential pick.
Reports said McCain might leak out the news in the coming hours in a bid to steal the thunder from his Democratic adversary, Barack Obama, due to make his acceptance speech in Denver later Thursday before a crowd of 75,000 people.
While some Republican factions have lobbied for a vice president with strong economic and security credentials, there appeared to be a fierce Republican grassroots push for a partner who will uphold conservative traditions.
Among the favorites was 47-year-old Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, who is well-liked by conservatives for his anti-abortion stand and evangelical background.
His youth would balance the ticket for McCain who celebrates his 72nd birthday on Friday.
But his lack of experience may also not play well against Obama's VP pick: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, a sharp debater whose decades in Washington will help offset criticism of Obama's lack of experience.
Pawlenty was tight-lipped Thursday when asked about his prospects of securing the vice-presidential nomination.
"On issues relating to the vice-president that obviously is a decision for the McCain campaign," Pawlenty said in Denver, adding the announcement could come "tomorrow (Friday), or at a time of their choosing."
But McCain's ally and close friend Joseph Lieberman, a former Democrat who was Al Gore's running mate in 2000 and then had a falling out with his party over the war in Iraq, was also being mentioned as a possible pick.
Choosing Lieberman, the first Jewish candidate on a major party election ticket, could help McCain win over independent voters, especially in states with large Jewish communities such as Florida.
But picking the pro-choice independent senator would be "a disaster for all concerned, and especially for the GOP," influential conservative columnist Robert Novak wrote Wednesday.
"You keep hearing that he really wants Lieberman," a Republican source told the Washington Post, adding McCain "can be stubborn."
Asked if McCain could choose a pro-choice running mate, McCain spokesman Jill Hazelbaker told MSNC television Thursday: "I think the American people know that John McCain is going to do what's right for the country.
"He's been doing it his entire lifetime. He's going to pick someone with principle and someone who can be a partner in governing."
The McCain campaign has planned a joint event for Friday in the key battleground state of Ohio hoping to quickly monopolize the headlines after the spectacular climax to the Democratic party's four-day convention.
Major rallies are also planned in two other battleground states -- Pennsylvania and Missouri -- ahead of the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minnesota which kicks off on Monday.
Also high on the list of possible VP candidates is former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who lost to McCain in a bitter primary race but has since rallied aggressively on behalf of his former rival.
A self-made millionaire whose father was the governor of Michigan, Romney is also credited with saving the scandal-plagued Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, staged successfully in 2002.
"Governor Romney would help shore up (McCain's) perceived lack of economic experience," said Heath Hall, a senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.
"Also Romney strategically helps as far as the states of Michigan, New Hampshire ... and the mountain states like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada that have been viewed in play as well."
Tom Ridge, the first secretary of homeland security under President George W. Bush and a former governor of Pennsylvania, a potentially decisive battleground, could also be in the running.
While Ridge's security credentials would help win over independent voters, his support of abortion rights could alienate the Republican base.
While it is important that McCain's VP candidate helps deliver the votes, it won't be too hard to bring out the party base on election day, said presidential historian Tom Whalen.
"All the McCain folks need to say is, look what the alternative will be, and that will scare up the base," Whalen said.
"Obama -- my God how many members of the electorate still think he's a Muslim?" Whalen said. "They don't have to say it but they know others in the party will do it for them."
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