Then there are Govs. Jim Hunt of North Carolina and Gray Davis of California. Even dark horses such as Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend of Maryland.
Some predict an unorthodox pick, perhaps former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. Others see long shots, whose names rise and fall with the news cycles. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, for example; his Hispanic heritage was considered a plus and he was a top prospect - until security problems at the Energy Department's Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory made him politically radioactive.
So whom will Gore pick? It depends on his strategy. Conventional campaign wisdom holds that a presidential candidate picks someone who will help in one of three ways: by carrying an important state, by attracting an important voting bloc, or by adding an appealing balance to the ticket.
Under the third theory, Gore should choose someone who is less stilted than he is in public. (By the same logic, his Republican opponent, Texas Gov. George. W. Bush, might pick some GOP graybeard to offset his own inexperience.)
Gore himself successfully weathered the ordeal of vice presidential selection in 1992 when President Clinton picked him. That choice broke with convention, pairing two centrist baby boomers from neighboring Southern states.
One connection between then and now is the person leading the vetting, Warren Christopher. His efforts eight years ago earned him the post of secretary of state during Clinton's first term.
For now, names are tossed around like beach balls. But the Gore campaign is mum. Campaign aides will not even say whether Gore and Christopher talk on the phone. And there is no vice presidential betting pool for the staff at Gore's Nashville headquarters.
"We're not going to get into the game of prognostication or handicapping," said Chris Lehane, the campaign spokesman.
