(AFP) – May 22, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Republican John McCain sent the rumor mill about his vice presidential pick into overdrive Thursday while Democrat Barack Obama was said to have started his own search for a White House running mate.

McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for November's general election, is meeting this weekend at his Arizona ranch with at least three potential candidates, according to The New York Times.

They were identified as Florida Governor Charlie Crist, the new Indian-American governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, and former presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

McCain would be stepping up his search as Obama bids to eliminate Hillary Clinton from the soon-to-end Democratic race, and both the front-runners have already been switching to general election mode in their campaign rhetoric.

Both must confront the need to balance out their tickets -- McCain with a younger runner mate, Obama with a deputy who can bring blue-collar support or national security experience, and preferably both.

Former president Bill Clinton is lobbying for his wife to be selected on an Obama ticket after the long and bruising fight for the Democratic nomination, according to Time magazine.

Bill Clinton "is pushing real hard for this to happen," it quoted a friend of the couple as saying.

Other reports, by CBS and Fox News among others, quoted Democratic insiders as saying that Obama had begun to quietly assemble a team to vet prospective VP candidates.

The team was said to include James Johnson, a former chief executive of government-chartered mortgage provider Fannie Mae, who steered the vetting process on behalf of 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry.

Obama reportedly wants to begin the selection process in earnest on June 4, the day after the final primary contests in Montana and South Dakota.

Spokesmen for the Obama and McCain campaigns refused to comment to AFP about the speculation.

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said Obama's reported VP activity was "clearly premature, in the sense that he is not the nominee."

If not Clinton herself, some vice-presidential names touted for Obama include Virginia Senator Jim Webb, a Marine veteran who could bring national security heft and a pivotal state to the Illinois senator's campaign.

Asked about the speculation, the former navy secretary in Ronald Reagan's Republican administration told NBC Sunday: "At this point, no one's asking; no one's talking; and I'm not that interested."

Others include Clinton backers such as Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, who might help Obama reach out to the white, working-class voters who have rallied to her side during the primary season.

McCain does not lack for foreign policy gravitas but pundits say he does need to bring a younger politician onto his ticket. At 72 in January, the Arizona senator would be the oldest president sworn in for a first term.

The socially conservative Jindal is 36 and viewed as a rising Republican star, not least for being one of the party's very few top elected officials who is not white.

Crist's state of Florida could again play a pivotal role in November after so controversially deciding the 2000 election in favor of President George W. Bush.

Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, fought a bitter primary campaign against McCain, but would bring business acumen to a candidate who confesses that the economy is not his strongest suit.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, another name mentioned as McCain's possible running mate, told CNN that the Republican faced "complex" choices.

"They're going to be personal, based on geography, based on politics and credentials and so many other things," he said.

"But I think, in the end, it's also going to have to be somebody who has the requisite character and chemistry with him, as well as competence in the issue areas."

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