Obama: Hillary still in the VP hunt

WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- A Democratic Party activist says likely U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama is still considering defeated rival Hillary Clinton as a possible running mate.

Party activist and donor Jill Iscol says Sen. Obama, D-Ill., made the comments to her Thursday in a phone conversation, but cautioned that Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., has a complicating factor going against her in Obama's process of picking a potential vice president: her husband, former President Bill Clinton, The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

"He said once you're a president, even if you're a former president, you're always a president," Iscol told the newspaper, suggesting Obama might be worried the White House could get crowded with Bill Clinton making regular appearances there.

But Iscol, who was an ardent backer of Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary elections, urged Obama to select her as a running mate anyway because "nobody has been vetted the way she has been vetted. We need to pick the most qualified, wisest, smartest, experienced person to serve our country alongside of Barack Obama," she told the Times.