Nunn said to be on Obama's short list

ATLANTA, July 13 (UPI) -- Former Sen. Sam Nunn is likely on Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's short list of possible running mates, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said.

It would not be the first time the Georgian was considered for the national ticket, the newspaper said Sunday. The former Senate Armed Services Committee chairman has been mentioned several times since the 1980s as a possible candidate for president or vice president, as well as secretary of defense.

He has demurred in the past, sources close to Nunn told the newspaper this time could be different.

Gordon Giffin -- former chief counsel for Nunn, and now an Atlanta lawyer -- said when he had breakfast with his former boss this month, Nunn seemed to have studied Obama's entire platform.

"He thinks he can make a contribution now," Giffin was quoted as saying.

Nunn serves as a foreign policy and national security adviser to Obama. When asked about the possibility of joining Obama on the ticket, Nunn said that would be up to Obama.

"I don't have any overriding ambition to go back into government," Nunn said in a recent interview with the newspaper. "It just depends on what (Obama) wants and whether I feel I would fit the needs that he has."