By Morgan Little, Tribune Washington Bureau –
WASHINGTON — Sen. Marco Rubio declined to repeat denials that he might be Mitt Romney’s running mate and said Sunday he will “be respectful of the process,” a response sure to fuel speculation that Rubio is at least in contention for the No. 2 slot on the Republican ticket.
“I’m not going to even discuss the process anymore,” the Florida Republican said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I’m going to be respectful of the process he’s (Romney) put in place.”
That differed from Rubio’s previous remarks. On April 15, he said on CNN en Espanol, “I’m not going to be the vice president. I’m not,” and on April 4, Rubio said, “I’m not going to be the vice president.”
“I think it’d be wise for all Republicans to kind of respect that process, myself included, and say moving forward, we’re going to let his process play itself out,” Rubio said. “He’s (Romney) been a great decision-maker throughout his career in both the private sector and in politics, and he’s going to make a great choice.”
“I think it’s fair,” Rubio said. “I think the fairness in it is he has a real process in place … the last thing he needs is those of us in the peanut gallery to be saying what we would or would not do.”
Nonetheless, Rubio did show some favor to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
“I hope he’ll say ‘yes’ if future president Romney asks him,” Rubio said.
Romney’s search for a running mate is being led by Beth Meyers, a longtime Romney adviser and the campaign manager during the former Massachusetts governor’s 2008 presidential presidency.
