ITTSBURGH - There is a short list. Only three people know who's on it. And some prospects have already been cut.
Hard into the process of choosing a running mate, Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush talked at length yesterday about his decision-making process, the timing of his announcement, and the sympathy he feels for reporters desperate to scoop the competition.
The Texas governor said the only people who know anything are his wife, Laura Bush; the search director, Dick Cheney; and himself. Staff members, he said, ''may think they know something based on a hint or two.''
He called a recent report by Bloomberg News Service listing three finalists - New York Governor George Pataki, Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Ridge, and former Red Cross director Elizabeth Dole - false.
''It's not true; I promise it's not true,'' Bush said.
Aboard his chartered campaign plane, Bush told reporters that ''there has been serious vetting'' of the candidates. Financial documents, legal documents, and medical records are being examined closely, he said.
Bush was headed for this important battleground state to attend the Pennsylvania Veterans of Foreign Wars convention. In a brief speech in which he called for rebuilding the military's morale, he proposed a $75 million program to pair veterans with at-risk youths through community centers.
During a press conference with Ridge at his side, Bush was asked whether he was standing next to his running mate. ''I'm not telling,'' he said, though he called Ridge ''a good friend'' and said, ''Tom's under consideration.''
On the vice presidential selection process, Bush said he has no plans to bring people to Austin for interviews, requiring them to make dramatic entrances past hordes of prying reporters. ''It's just not my style,'' he said, adding that ''I want to bring some order and privacy to the process.''
Bush said he would not reveal the list of people he's scrutinizing.
''I don't want to stress the candidates,'' he said. ''I just want to keep this as close to the vest as possible.''
Asked if he is weighting his decision according to geography, Bush said, ''I'm more interested in the compatibility and who could be president.''
Trust is an important ingredient, too. ''I don't have to be looking over my shoulder or watching my back if I'm president,'' he said.
The job of vice president, which Bush said he knows something about from his father's years in the office, has become more important during the past quarter-century. He even gave credit to his Democratic opponent, the current vice president.
''Mondale, my dad, Quayle, and Al Gore,'' said Bush. ''All of them have been very able vice presidents. All have been assigned specific tasks. All of them gave counsel to their president, and all of them did a very good job keeping their counsel private.''
Bush has been thinking about announcing his choice during the Republican convention in Philadelphia, which begins July 31, though he worries about stepping on the message of the day with a big piece of news. He's also been thinking of rolling out his running mate in the days before the convention, like Bob Dole did in 1996 with Jack Kemp.
''I don't think you want to make the announcement too early,'' he said.
Repeatedly, Bush said he feels sympathy for reporters under orders to get the running mate news first. He even offered to call editors and tell them to knock it off.
''I really do feel for you because it's not fair,'' he said.
But Bush said he hasn't made up his mind yet.
''If I knew,'' he said, ''I would tell you.''
