Governors await running-mate call

Governors as political executives
Indeed, governors as political executives have more in common with presidents than senators do. As Smith, the historian, told them, "What sets you apart from legislators is that you are constantly making decisions." And these days, many have even more hands on foreign policy experience than senators sitting on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Kaine was leaving Sunday on a trade mission to Poland, London and Ireland.

"I deal with trade issues with Mexico and Canada all the time, so you have that," Napolitano said in an interview. "You're the commander in chief of your National Guard and, in this context, many of us have been to Iraq and Afghanistan. We've been deploying Guard over there. We talk to the families of those who have died over there. So I think the current crop of governors has more relevant foreign policy experience perhaps than our predecessors."

Napolitano offered three characteristics for a good running mate — he or she can step into the presidency if needed, shares the political and policy values of the nominee and can help the ticket expand the electoral map.

Asked if she met her own standards, she demurred. "I don't answer those questions," she said.

To hear Vilsack describe a campaign's selection process, vetting a potential running mate is one step shy of violating the Army interrogation manual.

"You turn over virtually everything you've ever done, ever said, virtually everything your spouse has ever done, ever said," he said.

The interview
Then comes the interview with the vetters.

"In my case, it was seven hours," he said. "My wife and I were in the room and there were five or seven lawyers in the room. They'll walk you in and say, OK, we've got a question about your tax return, we have a question about this stock that you sold, or we have a questions about this speech that you gave or this vote that took or this veto that you made."

Governors or former governors have been far more common at the top of the ticket. Georgia's Jimmy Carter in 1976, California's Ronald Reagan in 1980, Massachusetts' Michael Dukakis in 1988, Arkansas' Bill Clinton in 1992 and Texas' George W. Bush in 2000.

The last time a governor was a running mate was in 1968 when Maryland's Spiro Agnew ran on the ticket with Richard Nixon. Agnew was forced to resign in 1973 in the midst of a bribery scandal.

"Maybe that's why," Vilsack said of the 40-year hiatus. "It took that long to forget."

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