PELOSI SAYS CLINTON-OBAMA TICKET ‘IMPOSSIBLE’

The Democratic speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, is pouring cold water on the idea of a “dream ticket” comprising senators Clinton and Obama. “I think that the Clinton administration has fairly ruled that out by proclaiming that Senator McCain would be a better commander in chief than Obama. I think that either way is impossible,” Mrs. Pelosi told New England Cable News in Massachusetts yesterday, referring to the Clinton campaign’s recent statements that, unlike the presumptive Republican nominee, Mr. Obama has not passed the so-called commander in chief test. Mrs. Clinton and President Clinton have hinted at a joint ticket in recent days, but Mr. Obama mocked that idea on Monday, suggesting it was absurd for the candidate in second place to offer the vice presidency to the leading candidate.

ROMNEY SAYS HE’D ACCEPT VEEP SLOT

Mitt Romney said last night that there were “no hard feelings” between him and the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator McCain, and that he would accept the vice presidential spot on the ticket if it were offered. “I think any Republican leader in this country would be honored to be asked to serve as the vice presidential nominee, myself included,” the former presidential candidate said last night on Fox News’s “Hannity & Colmes” in his first interview since dropping out of the race. “Of course this is a nation which needs strong leadership. And if the nominee of our party asked you to serve with him, anybody would be honored to receive that call … and to accept it, of course.” The former Massachusetts governor has been mentioned in recent days as a vice presidential contender, but many observers doubt that Mr. McCain would pick him after the bitterness of their primary fight.

SINBAD CONTRADICTS CLINTON’S ACCOUNT OF BOSNIA TRIP

Senator Clinton’s account of her 1996 trip to Bosnia was contradicted yesterday by none other than Sinbad. The comic, whose real name is David Adkins, accompanied Mrs. Clinton on the trip to the war zone, which she has described as harrowing and even dangerous; he said it was nothing of the sort. “I never felt that I was in a dangerous position,” Sinbad told the Washington Post, describing the trip as a mission to boost troop morale in the middle of a civil war. “I never felt being in a sense of peril, or ‘Oh, God, I hope I’m going to be OK when I get out of this helicopter or when I get out of this tank.'” Sinbad, a supporter of Senator Obama, also belittled Mrs. Clinton’s citation of her experience as first lady, including the Bosnia trip, as preparation for the so-called “3 a.m. phone call.” “I think the only ‘red-phone’ moment was: ‘Do we eat here or at the next place?'” he said.

McCAIN DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN BOEING CONTRACT

Senator McCain said yesterday his inquiries into a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract were designed to assure evenhanded bidding, and he denied they were motivated by lobbyists who are close advisers to his presidential campaign. “I had nothing to do with the contract, except to insist in writing, on several occasions, as this process went forward, that it be fair and open and transparent,” he said at a meeting with voters in St. Louis, the Associated Press reported. “That was my involvement in it.” His remarks came after the AP reported that some of his current advisers lobbied last year for the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the parent company of plane maker Airbus. EADS and its U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman Corp., beat Boeing Co. for the lucrative aerial refueling contract. Boeing yesterday filed a formal protest of the tanker award with the Government Accountability Office, citing “irregularities” in the contract competition. Two of the lobbyists working on the EADS account gave up their lobbying work when they joined Mr. McCain’s campaign last year. A third, Tom Loeffler, a former congressman of Texas, lobbies for EADS and serves as Mr. McCain’s national finance chairman.