In Philadelphia, Napolitano quiet on ambitions

PHILADELPHIA - If Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano has designs on a job in a Barack Obama White House, she isn’t advertising them.

“I don’t answer those questions,” she said when asked if she was interested in a job as United States Attorney General.

Napolitano, who is in her second term as governor, served one term as Arizona’s attorney general. Prior to that Napolitano was a U.S. Attorney for Arizona.

Napolitano was one of several governors who gathered here for last weekend’s National Governors Association conference who have been mentioned as possibilities for higher office. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty are widely seen as potential candidates for vice president.

Napolitano, 50, is set to play a prominent role at August’s Democratic National Convention, helping to draft the party’s platform.

Speaking outside a governors-only breakfast Monday, Napolitano argued that despite McCain’s home-state status, Obama had the potential to run strongly in Arizona.

“I think the factors for competitiveness are there,” she said, pointing to polling showing McCain failing to reach the 50 percent mark in the state.

A late June Rasmussen survey showed McCain leading Obama by a 49 to 40 percent margin in Arizona.