"'I want somebody who can be a good president if anything happened to me. And I want somebody who can be a good adviser and counsel to me.'"

"In a briefing with reporters here in Washington, Obama manager David Plouffe offered the campaign's first public comments on what criteria Obama would use to choose his vice presidential ticket-mate.

Responding to a reporter's question, Plouffe said that Obama would choose someone 'qualified to be president and someone who'll be a partner in governing.'

'We certainly don't want to pick someone who will hurt,' he said.

But as Obama operatives have sounded out Democrats about Hagel, they have encountered serious resistance from many who say the Nebraska Republican is too conservative on other issues, especially abortion. As a result, some Democratic insiders say Hagel's prospects are plummeting.

"Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama should not select former Sen. Sam Nunn to be his vice presidential running mate because of Mr. Nunn's support for doing business with the terrorist state of Iran.

'Sam Nunn voted to allow the General Electric Company to do business with Iran despite that the U.S. government had labeled Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism,' said Tom Borelli of Action Fund Management, the investment adviser to the Free Enterprise Action Fund, a publicly-traded mutual fund. "Someone who supports doing business with an avowed enemy of the U.S. has no place in the White House,' Borelli added."

Evan Bayh said he would accept if offered. (MSNBC)