Kerry makes key decision his way

PITTSBURGH – Sen. John F. Kerry had settled on his running mate, and he was ready to make the call.

Just after 6 p.m. Monday, he picked up the phone – and talked to a worker in an airplane hanger at the Pittsburgh airport. The worker immediately set about adding a bright new decal to the side of the campaign plane.

It read: “Kerry Edwards.” Below that, another line was added: “A Stronger America.”

Kerry placed his call almost four hours before he notified his top aides that he had decided to ask Sen. John Edwards to join him on the Democratic presidential ticket – and more than 13 hours before he contacted the North Carolinian himself. And Kerry’s unveiling of his choice exemplified the way he conducted his search for a running mate: thoroughly, personally and, most of all, privately.

Even the advisers closest to Kerry said they did not know which way he was leaning as he solicited their opinions over the last few months.

Forced to plan a roll-out for a candidate whose identity was a secret, the campaign printed as many as five different versions of placards, buttons and stickers. Others who made the campaign paraphernalia included Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Florida Sen. Bob Graham. On Tuesday, at a jubilant rally in downtown Pittsburgh where Kerry announced his pick, a smattering of “Kerry Graham” signs were held aloft in the crowd, having accidentally slipped into the mix.

John Marttila, a Boston-based strategist who has worked with Kerry for decades, said the senator instructed the campaign staff not to gossip or discuss his possible choices. And his conversations with advisers about the process were mostly one-sided.

“The rules were very clear,” Marttila said. “He welcomed advice, but there was no comment coming back.”

As he went about narrowing his choices, Kerry reviewed sheaths of documents and videotapes that detailed the backgrounds, professional experience and politics of 25 candidates.

Aides said that despite reports that Kerry had narrowed his choices to three or so candidates, he never winnowed the possibilities to a formal short list. And just last week, they said, he raised names that had not been discussed for a month.

Last Thursday, campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill and Jim Johnson, who headed the search, gave Kerry a final batch of information he had requested. He apparently settled on Edwards sometime over the holiday weekend. As he was trundling through the Midwest on a three-day bus tour, he started drafting his announcement speech, Johnson said.

When Kerry returned to Pittsburgh Monday morning, he discussed his pick with his wife, Teresa, aides said. He finally informed Cahill and Johnson of his choice that night around 10:30, as they were joining the Kerrys for a late dinner of fish soup and salad.

On Tuesday, Kerry rose at about 6:15 a.m. and continued working on his remarks. As aides huddled in his kitchen, fielding calls and mapping out the day’s logistics, Kerry sat in his study with just his German shepherd, Kim, by his side. Shortly after 7:30, he called Edwards.

Despite Kerry’s determination to be the one to inform the various contenders of his decision, NBC broke the story just as Kerry was talking to his new running mate. Within 11 minutes, all the networks were reporting his pick.

Still, Gephardt said he learned of Kerry’s choice from the senator himself, as did Vilsack, according to an aide.

But Graham first heard that he wasn’t getting the nod from his wife and chief of staff, who both saw the news on cable television.