Kerry campaign quietly delves into Graham information

Bob Graham has provided personal information for John Kerry's vice presidential search in recent weeks as part of a potential vetting process.

It's a sign that Florida's retiring senior senator remains in the mix in Kerry's secretive search for a running mate. But there are few outward indications that the review has progressed very far, and it's not clear Graham is a top contender.

In the vice presidential guessing game, the senior senator of America's largest battleground state inevitably makes it onto speculative lists of potential Democratic running mates. Most media attention, though, has focused lately on North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

Graham's lackluster presidential bid has some people questioning his strength as a campaigner for Kerry. Also, the Kerry campaign is aware of polls that have shown Graham would provide little boost for Kerry in Florida, where the presidential contest appears close.

Still, Graham, 67, apparently remains under consideration by the Kerry campaign because of his long track record in Florida and his credentials on national security matters. Some see Graham as a potential CIA director or secretary of homeland security.

Kerry and Graham were well-publicized contenders to be Al Gore's running mate in 2000. This year, Kerry has insisted on keeping the search process under wraps, and leaks have been scarce.

Graham's office also refused to discuss the matter, though the senator has said he would do whatever he could to help Kerry.

"We are maintaining our policy of declining comment on the process," said Graham spokesman Paul Anderson. "Sen. Graham feels it is a private matter between Sen. Kerry and his advisers."

A month ago, Buddy Menn, the senator's chief of staff and his top political adviser, met with the senator's accountant at the Miami Lakes headquarters of the Graham Cos., the family's land-developing business.

Menn said Thursday that he reviewed financial records during that visit, but he declined to discuss the purpose of his visit or to confirm that he forwarded records to the Kerry campaign.

"That's a private matter," Menn said.

Still, it is known that representatives of the Kerry campaign have received records concerning Graham.

A running mate decision is expected next month, though Kerry has said only that he will choose a vice presidential nominee before the Democratic National Convention in Boston July 26-29.

"John Kerry made it clear from the start that he intends to make the process of selecting a running mate a private and dignified one," Kerry spokesman Mark Kornblau said. "He will select a person who is prepared to be president."

The Kerry campaign has not visited two libraries that contain a wealth of information about Graham: No one has requested Graham's gubernatorial papers recently at the state archives in Tallahassee and no one has examined the legislative papers that are kept at the University of Florida.

John R. Nemmers, an archivist at the UF Smathers Libraries who oversees the Graham collection, said he was surprised people had not been interested in the papers because Graham was a possible vice presidential choice.

"We really expected a little more of that by now," Nemmers said.

Graham, a two-term governor and three-term senator, is accustomed to the awkward - and frequently disappointing - process of vice presidential consideration. He was a contender in 1988, 1992 and 2000.

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