Romney denies that Rubio is out of contention for V.P.
We’re seriously studying his qualifications, he says
From Progreso Weekly staff
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney denied news reports that Senator Marco Rubio was no longer in contention for his ballot partner.
“Marco Rubio is being thoroughly vetted as part of our process," Romney told a group of reporters during a campaign stop in Michigan Tuesday night.
Romney thus contradicted an ABC News report that said his political team had investigated Rubio superficially because it had dismissed him as a vice presidential candidate. That report was attributed to two anonymous sources and confirmed by another source to The Washington Post.
“I can’t imagine who such people are,” The Post quoted Romney as saying. “But I can tell you this: They know nothing about the vice presidential selection or evaluation process.
"There are only two people in this country who know who are being vetted and who are not, and that’s Beth Myers and myself. And I know Beth well. She doesn’t talk to anybody. The story was entirely false.”
Beth Myers is a longtime aide to Romney in charge of vetting – that is, investigating and interviewing – any possible partner in the ticket.
Although many conservative activists in the Republican Party support Rubio, Romney has said that his priority is to select a partner with enough experience and wisdom to assume the presidency of the United States overnight.
On Monday, Romney said that he would not base his decision on the popularity of his co-candidate but on that person’s ability to assume the presidency. "Obviously, I’ll make that decision on a different basis," Romney told The Des Moines Register. "My criterion is who can be president if that became necessary."
It is possible that the ABC News report on Tuesday alarmed influential politicians who support Rubio’s candidacy and that they asked Romney not to discard Rubio openly at this stage of the campaign. The Hispanic vote will be important in this election. Rubio is a Florida Republican.
Top aides to Rubio declined to comment on the events of Tuesday, The Washington Post reported.
