Hillary Was On Kerry's VP List, Book Says

Hillary Rodham Clinton wants to be president. In the last campaign, she might have been the vice presidential nominee.

The New York senator and former first lady was on a list of possible running mates for 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry, according to an upcoming book by top Kerry strategist Bob Shrum.

But Clinton was quickly ruled out because quiet polling found she was too polarizing, Shrum writes.

Clinton said around that time that she would not have been interested in the job if the Massachusetts senator asked her. "I made it clear I don't want that to happen," Clinton said on NBC in April 2004. "And what my answer will be, 'no,' if it does happen. I'm not prepared to do that."

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said neither she nor her advisers had an effort to place her name on the short list of potential Kerry running mates. Among other things, Clinton pledged in her 2000 campaign to serve out her entire Senate term and was serious about fulfilling that promise, Wolfson said.

Kerry spokesman Vincent Morris said conversations about selecting a running mate were private and Kerry wants them to remain that way. John Edwards ultimately was picked as Kerry's running mate.

Shrum wrote that Clinton was on a list of about 25 possibilities drawn up early in the search process.

His book, "No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner," is scheduled for publication June 5. The Associated Press obtained excerpts from uncorrected galley proofs.