WASHINGTON -- A wave of dizzy speculation flashed through Republican ranks Monday that Texas Gov. George W. Bush might pick retired Gen. Colin Powell for vice president but the story quickly died after Powell shot down the rumors.

CBS news anchor Dan Rather reported that Bush and his father, former President George Bush, were trying to persuade Powell to join the ticket and that Powell's wife, Alma, had dropped her long-held objections.

But Powell's office issued a statement denying the report. Powell would have been the first black American to run on the presidential ticket of one of the two major parties.

"There is absolutely no substance to Mr. Rather's report. General Powell's position remains unchanged. There have been no conversations of the kind suggested by Mr. Rather," said Powell spokeswoman Peggy Cifrino.

Powell's name emerged after a weekend of reports that former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney headed Bush's short list. The Texas governor was expected to announce his decision Tuesday.

The Powell rumor gathered steam when conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh predicted Powell would be vice president as well as secretary of state in a Bush administration. He said it was just a hunch and he had no hard information.

Other Republicans waited in giddy anticipation for an announcement from Bush.

"If it's Powell, we would be doing cartwheels and handsprings," said Ann Stone, a Republican activist who heads a pro-abortion rights pressure group within the part, noting Powell's long-standing defense of abortion rights.

On the anti-abortion side, political consultant Keith Appell predicted the selection of Powell would stir opposition from anti-abortion activists but acknowledged it would be swamped by the excitement surrounding the selection.

Powell, 62, has repeatedly said he would not seek elective office for a variety of reasons, including the fact that he lacked the passion to campaign successfully. His wife vehemently opposed him running for the presidency in 1996 out of fear he could be the target of an assassination attempt.

"You have to have a certain feeling for it, a certain commitment, passion. But this old soldier didn't have it," Powell, architect of the successful military operation to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait in 1991, said last March. "That still remains the case. I have no desire for political office."

Asked specifically if he was ruling out a vice presidential offer, Powell said, "Since I last heard the vice presidency is an elected office, so it falls into that same category."

Powell spends around half his time as a public speaker and the other half running "America's Promise," an organization that aims to improve the lives of the nation's youth.