Vice President

GOP presidential candidate John McCain campaigns in New Jersey last February with Sen. Joe Lieberman: Getty Images Photo
Two pro-choice names floated as potential vice-president picks for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain have caused a lot of grumbling among conservatives nationwide, but some of the most ardently pro-life members of the delegation representing New Jersey at next month's Republican National Convention were circumspect on the prospects.

While McCain has pledged to run a "pro-life administration" if elected, his campaign has floated trial balloons about U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and former Pennsylvania Governor and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Thomas Ridge as possible Veep picks, both of whom are pro-choice.

While some pro-life delegation members would prefer to see a fully anti-abortion ticket, none were committed to casting a protest vote against a pro-choice McCain pick. Still, some of them cautiously suggested that McCain would be wise not to alienate the socially conservative wing of the party, including the evangelical voters who he's had trouble courting in the past.

"I don't from a tactical standpoint see the gain other than maybe he's trying to reach moderate Democrat voters and take them from Barack by putting Lieberman there," said Assemblywoman Allison Littell McHose (R-Franklin), a delegate who sits on the convention's platform committee. "But I think when you have a Republican base that would probably not traditionally vote for a guy like Lieberman, I don't know why McCain would need to do that."

PARAMUS - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) seems to like the idea of former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-Montclair) as Barack Obama's running mate - in a very non-committal sort of way.

"I think Bill Bradley was an outstanding member of the U.S. Senate, I think he's a very decent, value-centered individual. Obviously a very distinguished scholar in his own right," said Hoyer during a campaign appearance for 5th district congressional candidate Dennis Shulman.  "There's no doubt he could be president and many supported him fro president when he ran, so I think that would be a choice the American public would certainly respond favorably to."

One sign that rumors of Bill Bradley’s name on a list of potential vice presidential candidates could be accurate: one of Barack Obama’s top advisors is Anita Dunn, who was Bradley’s Senate Chief of Staff and later as chief strategist for Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign.  Dunn believes in the value of the Bradley brand, and her seat at the Obama table is likely to get the former three-term Senator from New Jersey at least some consideration.

Is Bill Bradley on Barack Obama's short list for Vice President?: Getty Images Photo
Politifax’s Nick Acocella reports this week that former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley is a top contender to become Barack Obama’s veep pick.

Acocella wrote that a former Democratic governor from another state told him “that the former Hall of Fame basketball player, the former Senator, the former presidential candidate, and the current post-politics intellectual is not only very high on Barack Obamas vice presidential short list but also the preferred choice of master strategist David Axelrod.”

While the bulk of the state’s prominent politicos came out for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, Bradley endorsed Obama in January.

Bradley sought the Democratic presidential nomination against Al Gore in 2000.

Don't expect New Jersey's U.S. senators to be a presidential runningmate. In a survey of the U.S. Senate's membership not already running for president on whether they'd accept an offer to be vice president, The Hill newspaper found a variety of responses to the veepstakes question. Some were accompanied by laughs, others took the question seriously.

So, how did Democrats Bob Menendez and Frank Lautenberg respond?

Jon Corzine and Bob Menendez each think the other would make a great Vice President
It was a Jon Corzine/Bob Menendez love fest today as each exclaimed the others’ qualifications to be second in command under a President Hillary Clinton.

Although Corzine has all but ruled out any possibility of working in Washington next year if Clinton wins the presidential election, Menendez thinks he’d be a splendid choice for Vice President.

“I think he’d be a great choice,” said Menendez in response to a question during a conference call with Corzine about Clinton’s New Jersey primary victory.