Report: Romney team begins VP vetting

WASHINGTON, May 18 (UPI) -- A team of advisers for presumptive Republican U.S. presidential nominee Mitt Romney has begun the vetting process for a running mate, The Hill reported Friday.

A source close to the Romney campaign said the team has been contacting potential vice presidential candidates, The Hill said.

Three of the top candidates on the list -- Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rob Portman of Ohio and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin -- declined to comment when asked by The Hill.

"I'm not going to talk about the process," Rubio said. "When they make a choice, I'm sure it's going to be a great choice."

Portman said he respected Romney and the process he had for selecting a running mate and "I'm not going to talk about it."

Ryan similarly said, "I'm not getting into it."

A spokeswoman for the Romney campaign declined to comment.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, Ind-Conn., who ran with Al Gore on the Democratic presidential ballot in 2000, said contenders were in for a painful experience.

"During the Gore vettings, somebody said to me, 'It's like having a colonoscopy without painkillers,'" Lieberman told The Hill. "I heard they had gone back and read editorials I had written for the Yale Daily News in 1963. They asked very explicit questions."