During a five-day span in June, Mr. Powell, the retired four-star general and former chairman of the joint chiefs-of-staff, met one-on-one with both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain -- the first such meetings since each of them became their party's presumptive nominee, a spokeswoman for Mr. Powell said today.

"I am not interested in political life, and I am not a candidate for any office," Powell said at a small news conference.

Nor is he ready to endorse McCain or Democratic presumptive nominee Barack Obama -- but he seemed to leave open the door to an endorsement as the campaign continues.

"Right now, my only responsibility as a citizen is to vote," Powell said. "What else I might do remains to be seen."

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards was coy Tuesday about whether he has talked with the Barack Obama campaign about a No. 2 spot on the ticket a week after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi singled him out as the best House member for the job.

Republican strategists trying to game Sen. Barack Obama's choice for a running mate are focusing more and more on the possibility that he might pick former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt, a friend of labor and blue-collar workers. "Gephardt is the one we're most afraid of," said a key GOP strategist and Bush ally.

Mr. Webb, a Virginia Democrat who is often mentioned as a possible running mate for Mr. Obama, said Mr. McCain should "calm down" about his military record. "Don't be standing up and uttering your political views and implying that all the people in the military support them, because they don't," he said on MSNBC.