Gore says announcement on running mate will be Tuesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNN) -- Vice President Al Gore, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, says he will announce his decision on his running mate on Tuesday.

"I haven't decided yet, but I will shortly, and then I will announce it on Tuesday," Gore said Sunday. Campaign aides said an announcement is planned for 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.

In this story: Gore 'intrigued' by Edwards Two leading choices

According to senior Democrats who have spoken with Gore in recent days, he has come up with a "short list" of four top contenders, all senators: John Kerry of Massachusetts, John Edwards of North Carolina, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, and Evan Bayh of Indiana. An unnamed "dark horse" also is under consideration, said Gore press secretary Chris Lehane.

Gore met for nearly two hours Sunday with top advisers and former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, the man conducting the search for a running mate. Aides said no decision would be made Sunday. Campaign Chairman Bill Daley was also on hand for the session.

Gore flew to Nashville after attending a church service in Sag Harbor, New York, and a $250,000 Democratic fund-raiser in Southampton, New York.

He could make the final phone call to his choice for a running mate as late as Monday night or early Tuesday, Lehane said.

Gore 'intrigued' by Edwards

One source described Gore as "intrigued" by the prospect of picking 47-year-old political newcomer Edwards, who defeated conservative GOP Sen. Lauch Faircloth in 1998 in his first run for public office.

The North Carolinian is viewed as a dynamic campaigner, and Gore advisers say his work as a trial lawyer -- a record already being scrutinized by Republicans -- includes several cases championing victims' rights that would mesh with Gore's campaign theme of "fighting for the people, not the powerful."

Edwards also has been highly recommended by several Gore campaign aides who worked in Edwards' Senate race and by several senior Democrats in the Senate who view him as a rising national star. "When you ask the Ted Kennedys and people like that for advice and they say this is the type of guy who comes along once in a generation, you take that to heart," said a Gore campaign worker involved in the search process.

"He (Gore) is asking a lot of questions but not betraying what he thinks," a senior adviser who speaks with Gore frequently told CNN.

Two leading choices

Among Gore's aides and associates, the consensus was that Edwards and Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, seemed to be the leading prospects. But that was an opinion, they stressed, based on Gore's questions and reactions of others close to the campaign; it was not based on anything the vice president had said.

Lieberman, for his part, is viewed as a longshot for two reasons: He is an Orthodox Jew, which some advisers believe could prove an issue in key battleground states. And, more significantly in the view of some senior Democrats, Lieberman has voiced support for allowing individuals to place some of their Social Security payroll taxes in private retirement accounts. Gore has criticized a plan from Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush to do that as a risk to the solvency of Social Security.

Daley, Gore's campaign manager, said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that Lieberman's religion was irrelevant.

"I think his religion has no impact whatsoever on his ability not only to be a great vice presidential nominee but to serve in that office with great distinction," Daley said.

Lehane said Gore has three criteria: "He wants someone who can assume the responsibilities of the presidency, if called upon. He wants someone who will be a trusted partner, who will work with him closely. He is looking for someone who will share his philosophy, someone who will fight for the people against the powerful, against big oil, against the prescription drug companies, against the anti-choice forces in this country."

Several senior Bush aides, for their part, said on Sunday that choosing Edwards would create a favorable contrast for the Republicans because Bush's running mate, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, has deep Washington experience. But a senior Gore aide shrugged this off, saying Gore's eight years as vice president and two decades in the House and Senate gave him more leeway in picking a relative newcomer to politics than Bush, who has held statewide office in Texas for five years.

"They are concerned about him (Edwards) and protesting because he has the greatest potential to upset the race. He is new and vigorous and fresh," said a senior Gore adviser.

An announcement of the pick on Tuesday would come six days before the opening of the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, where Gore and his running mate will be formally anointed as the party's 2000 standard-bearers.

Gore is looking for help from his running mate as well as a big bounce in the public opinion polls from the convention.

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll released Sunday shows Bush leading Gore 54 percent to 37 percent in a four-way race, with Green Party candidate Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan, the expected Reform Party candidate, trailing in single digits. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Traditionally, whoever is leading on Labor Day wins. Election day is November 7.

CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King, CNN Correspondent Patty Davis and Reuters contributed to this report.