Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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Public pressure might force Kerry to make a veep offer to Arizona Republican John McCain.

Between discussions of prison photos and beheadings, the Sunday political shows almost forgot there was a presidential race going on this week. But there was enough time to build on Saturday's front-page New York Times article touting the possibility of a Democratic ticket of John Kerry and John McCain.

Chris Matthews said, "Everyone tells me that if Kerry gets McCain, he wins."

McCain appeared on Meet the Press, where Tim Russert — whose fascination/obsession with McCain and the possibility of him running against Bush was parodied on Saturday Night Live last year — described the ticket talk as "the elephant in the room, the story that will not die."

Russert referred to a comment by former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey that "Senator McCain would not have to leave his party.... He could remain a Republican, would be given some authority for selection of Cabinet people. The only thing he would have to do is say, 'I'm not going to appoint any judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade,'" and asked McCain what he thought of Kerrey's recommendation.

McCain repeated, for what seems like the thousandth time, "I've said categorically — categorically, I will not be vice president of the United States.... I am a loyal Republican. I am supporting President Bush's reelection. I am campaigning for it."

Rick Davis, who ran McCain's 2000 presidential campaign, told the Times that the blanket denials are supposed to be deterring Kerry. "His point that he's trying to make publicly is to send Kerry a message to say, 'Don't put me in that position,'" he said.

But the public pressure from pro-McCain Democrats, including Kerrey, Sens. Bill Nelson of Florida, and Joe Biden of Delaware, might force Kerry to make the offer.

Biden, who was on MTP with McCain, said he "would still urge John Kerry to pick up the phone and call John McCain. He'll say no probably. But I think John Kerry has an obligation to do that for the way he wants to heal. And I know John will listen. He'll say no, but I'm going to tell you, I'm counting on him being a more loyal American than he is a loyal Republican."

Russert then asked McCain, "Would you take Senator Kerry's phone call if you knew he was calling about it?"

"I will always take anyone's phone calls but I will not — I categorically will not do it," McCain said.

Kerry's people say he "continues to be interested in" McCain, and his Kerry aides described the Arizona Republican as "the candidate's best friend in the Senate."

The Kerry campaign certainly isn't minding the McCain talk.

"Sometimes silly-season speculation is a good thing," one Kerry adviser tells NRO. "The McCain boomlet in the chattering class has reminded voters that Kerry's closer to McCain than Bush, that he's a decorated Vietnam veteran, and that he's got friends across the aisle that give hope that a President Kerry would be far more the uniter than the great divider George Bush. Plus, simply put, it drives Karl Rove nuts."

Actually, Kerry may be reaching the point where he's got very little to lose by asking McCain. If McCain changes his mind, and undoes his dozens of public denials, he gets an orgiastic frenzy of positive coverage from McCainiacs in the media. (How long until we hear the line, "If John Kerry can persuade John McCain to join the Democratic ticket, he can persuade France and Germany to join us in Iraq"?)

"Just by asking, Kerry will reap the bonanza of positive publicity from an almost completely uncritical press," says Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "They have fallen so deeply in love with McCain, they are as nauseating as a couple making out in the car in front of you while they're waiting for the light to change."

If Kerry asks and McCain says no, then he will probably still get a week's worth of "wasn't-that-nonpartisan-and-statesmanlike-of-him-to-reach-out-beyond-party-lines" coverage. Then, say in a debate when Bush mentions the National Journal rankings of Kerry as the Senate's most liberal member, Kerry can fire back, "How many far-Left liberals do you know who would pick a Republican like John McCain to be their running mate?"

"Kerry will be much better off if it's refused," Sabato says. "He gets to look bipartisan, and McCain will undoubtedly say glowing things about his best Vietnam buddy, and Kerry won't have the burden of actually running and serving with McCain. I don't mean just the policy differences, but McCain's personality. He's got a terrible temper and is virtually incapable of stepping aside from the spotlight, or yielding it even to a president. Kerry would regret it a hundred times over, even though he would never be able to admit it publicly."

CBS concludes that a decision would be due on June 9 — the deadline for the senator to file reelection paperwork for his Senate seat. But McCain could easily pull a Lieberman, running for both offices. Currently McCain is running unopposed for reelection; on May 2, libertarian-leaning Democrat Liz Michael pulled out of the race.

Odds are the Kerry-McCain stories will continue long past June 9 — at least so the Kerry camp hopes. Then on to the real race.