Romney VP search took place under radar

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Mitt Romney ran a tight ship as his campaign narrowed down the choices for his running mate, the campaign aide in charge of the search told reporters.

Beth Myers said all of the discussions about the field of potential vice-presidential candidates took place in a single room at Romney's Boston headquarters and the final meetings with U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, the ultimate choice, were carried out to avoid detection by the snoopy media.

"We gave a lot of thought on how to make this work undetected," Myers said Saturday.

The four-month search ended Saturday with the announcement that Ryan, R-Wis., had agreed to join the ticket. Despite Ryan's high profile on Capitol Hill, there appeared to be no leaks to the press beforehand.

Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, settled on Ryan Aug. 1, CNN said, and the two met at Romney's home in Massachusetts on Aug. 5 after Ryan flew from Chicago to Hartford, Conn., wearing jeans and a baseball cap to help avoid being spotted.

Ryan also gave observers the slip when he traveled to Virginia for Saturday's official public announcement. CNN said Ryan slipped out the back door of his Wisconsin home and walked unobserved through some woods to a neighbor's home where a waiting aide picked him up and drove him to a small airport where he was flown by charter plane to North Carolina, where he spent the night.

"It wasn't that far of a walk," Ryan told reporters. "I just went out my back door, went through the gully in the woods I grew up playing in."