Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who is thought to be near the top of the list of Mitt Romney’s possible running mates, says he met for six hours with top officials of the Romney campaign in Boston Monday.
“You know, I talk to those guys all the time on how things are going in Ohio and what the message ought to be back home in Ohio, so, it was a good day. We had six meetings in about six hours,” Portman told
ABC News.
Portman quickly clarified that three of the meetings were Romney fundraisers attended by his staff and that they didn’t involve any vetting for the vice presidential slot.
Asked specifically whether he met with Beth Myers, the Romney aide in charge of vetting vice presidential candidates, Portman replied, “Oh, I’ve seen pretty much all of them, you know, at one time or another.”
When asked if Portman met with Romney himself Monday, an aide to the senator deflected questions to Romney’s staffers. For its part, the Romney camp said that Portman was in Boston for fundraisers.
While Portman was in Boston Monday, Romney was still on vacation in New Hampshire. Romney’s senior aides have an office in Boston.
Portman traveled around New England for several days as his daughter visited colleges, and he conducted a news conference Saturday in New Hampshire, where he told reporters he had “no plans” to meet with Romney.
Portman and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are frequently cited as the top contenders to be Romney’s running mate. Other potential selections include Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte.
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