The choice for John McCain's running mate is such a mystery that few people even know who is helping in that search. The Republican is leaning on a consummate behind-the-scenes player in Washington – attorney Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. – for this maximum-discretion, minimal-disclosure assignment. In Culvahouse, a one-time White House counsel to President Reagan, McCain gets someone who is not likely to be recognized outside the Washington area. Culvahouse has been vetting people for positions at all levels of government for three decades. McCain has turned to him in recent weeks as he sorts through a list of some 20 or more would-be No. 2s – not that you'd know it. The Arizona senator, like every nominee-in-waiting, is demanding privacy and trying to keep the search under wraps, McCain's advisers are under strict orders not to even discuss the search. McCain, at times, has violated his own rule, including mentioning he wanted to consult with Culvahouse and disclosing he had a preliminary names list. When word leaked that three potentials – former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist – were invited to McCain's estate Arizona for Memorial Day weekend, aides insisted it was a social affair. Democrat Barack Obama, too, has advocated a private process but, so far, it's been fairly public. Obama, for example, announced that a former Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign manager would be chief of staff to his yet-to-be-chosen running mate. Under fire from Republicans and McCain, Johnson abruptly resigned after The Wall Street Journal reported he got home mortgages with help from the CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp. Holder, too, has faced a barrage of GOP attacks; he was the former Justice Department official who vetted President Clinton's oft-criticized 2001 pardon of financier Marc Rich. Another member of Obama's team has a larger-than-life name as the daughter of former President Kennedy. Conversely, Culvahouse's role in McCain's search has been largely shrouded in secrecy. McCain aides won't confirm his position, but it's an open secret in GOP circles that while McCain and campaign manager Rick Davis are running the show, Culvahouse is closely involved the process. “From my understanding, he has been asked to take a look at the potential candidates for vice president, look at their background,” said former Sen. Howard Baker of Tennessee, for whom Culvahouse was a top aide in the 1970s.
