After getting turned down by at least three potential running mates, Ross Perot has finally found a No. 2 for his Reform Party presidential ticket, but he isn't ready to say who it is just yet, says a top aide.
Californian James S. Campbell, Perot's former boss at IBM and his stand-in vice-presidential running mate on some ballots in the West, said he hadn't been called."I just know it's not me," Campbell said Thursday in a telephone interview, adding that he hoped Perot would announce his pick by next week so he could resign from some 20 state ballots that now carry his name.
Florida businessman Carl Owen-by, the Reform Party's "stand-in" candidate on some state ballots east of the Mississippi, also said he had not been contacted.
Clay Mulford, Perot's son-in-law and attorney, said on CNN's "Inside Politics" that Perot had picked a running mate, and he believes the person has agreed to run. He said an announcement is likely to be made soon, but he refused to name the candidate.
Perot has been turned down by at least three people.
The Texas billionaire twice made overtures to University of Oklahoma President David Boren, a Democrat, but the former governor and U.S. senator said he didn't want the job.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, and Rep. Linda Smith, R-Wash., have both said they weren't interested in running with Perot either.
Boren, who quit the Senate in 1994 during his third term, has been president of University of Oklahoma for 20 months. He said his job prevents him from joining in partisan political campaigns.