Rendell: ‘It Would Take So Long to Vet Me’

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D) said Monday that he is ‘absolutely not’ being vetted as a running mate for Barack Obama, joking that “it would take so long to vet me…it would extend far past the convention.”

Rendell added though that he has not heard of any potential Obama veep going through the vetting process.

“It hasn’t happened with me, and I don’t know any Democrat who’s gone through that process, that seven-, eight-hour interview process. I think in terms of Senator Obama, I don’t think they’ve shortened the list to the point where they’re going to begin to start vetting quite yet,” Rendell said on Fox.

Rendell supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) through the Democratic primary but has emerged as a top Obama surrogate since the Illinois senator clinched the Democratic nomination. Rendell’s name has been widely mentioned in veep speculation because of Pennsylvania’s strategic significance in the electoral college and his executive experience as Governor.