Richardson was on Obama’s short list for VP

The New York Times confirmed in a weekend article what many already suspected: Gov. Bill Richardson was on the short list of people Barack Obama considered to be his running mate.

The six candidates who were given “extensive consideration” for the vice presidential spot on the Democratic ticket, according to the Times, were Joe Biden — who Obama ultimately picked — Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Richardson.

Ultimately, all but Dodd and Richardson made it to the final round, when the campaign began writing speeches and making plans to announce any of the other four as Obama’s running mate, the newspaper reported.

Richardson told the newspaper on Saturday that Obama called him in early June to tell him he was on the list, but Obama warned Richardson “that it would be an intensive process, and asked him to consider whether he was up for it.” The newspaper reported that Richardson checked with his wife before calling back to say he was up to the challenge.

Richardson said he was “alerted weeks later that his vetting process had gone well,” but Obama ultimately called him last week to tell him, “I’ve made up my mind, and we’re going in another direction.”