Ridge Off McCain's VP List

Sen. John McCain has ruled out former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge as his running mate, Republican National Committee officials say.

Ridge, who supports abortion rights, has been at the center of criticism ever since it was revealed that he was on McCain's short list of GOP vice presidential candidates.

But Fox News reports that McCain came to the conclusion in the last 36 hours that any running mate who supports abortion rights would be a political liability. Campaign aides revealed that to RNC officials.

“I think it’s a hard sell and I don’t see much upside to Tom Ridge except for John McCain likes him a lot,” National Review Editor Rich Lowry told Fox News on Tuesday.

“I don’t think he’s going to be a big benefit in Pennsylvania and even if he is, I think the downside is the rest of the country among conservatives are going to be upset about this, just at the moment they’re beginning to work up being excited about John McCain. ”

Conservative commentator David Limbaugh has called the idea of Ridge on the GOP ticket “political suicide.”