McCain VP hopefuls stir waters in Denver

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By Sean Lengell and Ralph Z. Hallow

DENVER | The Mile-High City is the Democrats' turf this week, but two Republicans topping Sen. John McCain's list of possible running mates are stopping by and honing their attack skills.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney made several media appearances Tuesday in Denver, heaping criticism on Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's political resume while repeatedly ducking questions about his own vice-presidential aspirations.

And Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, an anti-abortion evangelical Christian who many Republicans say would make a near-perfect McCain running mate, is expected here Thursday.

Mr. Romney has played coy with the media over to his desire to be named Mr. McCain's No. 2 - as do most potential vice-presidential candidates.

Mr. Romney, who battled Mr. McCain for the Republican nomination before dropping out of the race in February, said Tuesday he hasn't had contact with Mr. McCain on the subject, but declined to say if he has been vetted by the senator's campaign for the vice-presidential spot.

"I've got nothing for you on the VP front. I'll leave that to the John McCain campaign," Mr. Romney said.

In Minneapolis, where Republican Party officials assembled to hammer out their platform before their national convention next week in neighboring St. Paul, the star of the home-state governor has been on the rise.

Mr. Pawlenty's pastor, the Rev. Leith Anderson, is president of the 30-million-plus-member National Association of Evangelicals. Polls suggest evangelicals made the difference in electing Republican presidents since 1980.

"Evangelicals specifically and conservatives generally would see Pawlenty as a good choice," said former Reagan White House domestic policy adviser Gary Bauer, a prominent Christian conservative.

Mr. Pawlenty is 47 and a Catholic-turned-Protestant evangelical. Sen. Joseph R. Biden, Delaware Democrat and Mr. Obama's running mate, is 65 and a Catholic.