There’s no summer break for McCain and Obama

The candidates must still choose a running mate among other tasks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — While many people will work on their tans this summer, or on summer reading lists or on not working too hard, two exceptions — John McCain and Barack Obama — and their underlings will be working.

Working industriously on an election that only one can win.

With 11 weeks to the start of the Democratic convention — and the GOP event just days later — Republican McCain and Democrat Obama will be focused on strategy, fundraising, shoring up weak spots and exploiting opportunities to prepare themselves for the sprint to Nov. 4.

Here’s what they’ll be worrying about:

•Shrinking the electoral map.

From now on, the great majority of Americans can be excused if they barely realize a presidential election is under way. They will see virtually no TV ads, visits by candidates or local news coverage.

That’s because this campaign, like the last two, will focus on about 15 competitive states. Both parties see the other states as reliably in their camps and not needing attention, or totally out of reach and not worth the effort and expense of trying to win them. In either case, these states will largely be ignored.

The magic number is 18. That’s how many electoral votes Obama must add to Kerry’s 252, from four years ago, to secure the presidency.

•Choosing a running mate.

Possibilities for Obama include four vanquished presidential rivals (besides Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton): New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, and Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware, and Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia is often mentioned, as are two prominent female supporters of Obama: Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Less conventional choices for Obama would be Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, or a prominent Clinton supporter, such as Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana. Virginia alone (a GOP-leaning state Obama would love to win) has three possible running mates: Gov. Tim Kaine, Sen. Jim Webb and former Gov. Mark Warner, who is running for the Senate.

McCain is likely to look at Republican Govs. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Charlie Crist of Florida, two battleground states. Other possibilities include former Massachusetts governor and presidential rival Mitt Romney; Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman; South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford; Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin; and former congressman and White House budget director Rob Portman of Ohio, another key state.

•Defining your opponent before he defines you.

Campaign pollsters say the average person still knows relatively little about Obama or McCain. Both men and their allies will race to fill in the blanks with appealing portraits of themselves and unflattering pictures of the other.

Obama’s theme is “change,” and he constantly says McCain would carry out “a third term” of President Bush, whose approval ratings approach historic lows. McCain portrays Obama as inexperienced, naive and more talk than action.

•Raising money.

Obama has assembled an unprecedented political fundraising machine, raking in $264 million in 16 months. McCain has raised $115 million in 17 months. McCain, assured of his eventual nomination, had his best fundraising month in May, raising $21.5 million. Obama, reeling from controversies over his former pastor and still battling Clinton, raised nearly $32 million in April.

•Committee to expand his donor base.

The Democrats’ challenge is to build the party’s finances. The RNC, now operating with Mc- Cain strategists in place, raised nearly $24 million in May and had $53.6 million on hand at the beginning of June. The Democratic National Committee raised nearly $5 million in May and ended the month with $4 million in the bank.