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Tom Ridge says Republicans wouldn't mind abortion-rights VP

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

August 18, 2008

CHICAGO - Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said yesterday he thinks Republicans would accept a vice presidential candidate who supports abortion rights.

But, he said, whomever John McCain picks as a running mate should defer to McCain on the issue.

McCain opposes abortion rights, but he riled some conservatives last week when he suggested his running mate could - like Ridge - support abortion rights.

"What he was saying to the rest of the world is that we need to accept both points of view," Ridge said in a broadcast interview.

"He's not judgmental about me or my belief. He just disagrees with me." With vice presidential picks coming soon, several possible candidates for the No. 2 spot appeared on the Sunday talk shows.

Barack Obama will choose soon; the Democratic National Convention, where Obama and his running mate will be nominated, is just a week away.

Obama and his closest advisers are refusing to talk about the process, leaving his schedule as a source for possible clues. Today he planned to visit New Mexico, home of Gov. Bill Richardson, and he planned to spend Wednesday and Thursday in Virginia, home of Gov. Tim Kaine.

Neither governor revealed whether they expected to be Obama's choice.

Obama's travels to Virginia and New Mexico don't necessarily mean anything about the vice presidential search; both are swing states getting attention from his campaign.

On Saturday during a forum at Saddleback Church in California, Obama brought up another potential running mate, former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn, when asked to name three people he would rely on for counsel as president. Obama listed Nunn after his wife and grandmother.

Ridge is believed to be on McCain's short list of vice presidential candidates, though it would be a major break with Republican orthodoxy for McCain to pick a running mate who supports abortion rights.