McCain Rules Out One Potential Running Mate
ATLANTA -- John McCain's list of potential running mates is undoubtedly long at this point in the campaign but one name has already been eliminated from the list: Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.
McCain was asked in Atlanta today if he'd consider a bipartisan ticket with Kerry.
"No, very frankly. John Kerry is a friend of mine and a close associate. We are fellow veterans, but we have very vastly different philosophical fundamental political views... I respect those views... I just totally disagree with them," said McCain.
"He describes himself as a liberal Democrat and I am not saying that in any way disparagingly and I am a conservative Republican."
In 2004, when Kerry was vetting his potential nominees, he seriously considered McCain before he chose John Edwards.
McCain says he didn't want to run with Kerry then because of their ideological differences.
"When I was approached, when we had that conversation back in 2004, that's why I never even considered such a thing."
UPDATE 1:00 p.m.: McCain was asked on his campaign plane to elaborate on the 2004 conversations he had with Kerry.
"It's been well chronicled a thousand times. John Kerry asked if I would consider being his running mate. And I said categorically no, under no circumstances," McCain said.
When asked to detail the conversation he had with Kerry, McCain declined, saying it was a "private conversation."
David Wade, a spokesman for Kerry reacted, saying in an e-mail, "Sen. Kerry believes that vice presidential conversations which were said to be private should remain private barring extreme circumstances."