Kaine mum on talk of Obama VP slot

Politico first reported that Kaine told close associates he has had "very serious" talks with Senator Barack Obama about running as his vice president.

Appearing on WTOP's Hands Across the Potomac program Tuesday morning, along with Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Kaine said, "I have been on board with the [Obama] campaign since February of '07, but I don't talk about my conversations with the campaign."

"I didn't endorse Senator Obama to get anything or to get appointed to anything. I endorsed him because I thought he would be president and should be president."

Kaine says it's "flattering to be mentioned" as a vice presidential candidate.

"My mom loves it. She calls when she sees it," Kaine says. "But that's for the campaign to decide. And the campaign has made very good decisions thus far and I think, however they decide, they are going to make a very good decision."

Right now, Kaine says he is helping Obama any way he can.

"I think the place I can be most helpful is my current capacity as governor of Virginia," Kaine says.

Virginia will be a battleground state in the presidential race. The state has not elected a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964.

When pressed later in the show by WTOP Political Analyst Mark Plotkin, Kaine would not say whether he has turned over any documents to the Obama campaign.

"You can opine, and I give you freedom to opine," Kaine says. "But I don't have conversations about my conversations with the campaign. I want to help Obama win."

Kaine says he "has no idea" when he will see Obama next.

"I've got my 13-year-old daughter in the studio. We've got a date right after this, and that's the only thing on my calendar today," Kaine says.

He would not answer whether he will finish his term as governor, which ends in January 2010.

(Copyright 2008 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)