Possible McCain VP pick sees long healing from Iraq

By Adam Tanner

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., a possible Republican vice presidential choice, said in an interview it will take a generation to heal global ties frayed by the U.S. war in Iraq.

"We have a lot of repairing to do in the international marketplace. We have some alliances to rebuild and we have some fences to mend," Huntsman, a former diplomat, told Reuters on Tuesday evening. "It's going to take a generation."

Huntsman, son of one of Utah's leading businessmen, was elected governor in 2004 and this week filed for re-election in November. In a state where 90 percent -- including his father -- backed ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a fellow Mormon, in the Republican February primary, Huntsman supported the now-presumed Republican nominee John McCain.

With his background in government service, including a stint as U.S. ambassador to Singapore, Huntsman has been seen as a possible running mate or Cabinet officer for McCain.

At age 46, the father of seven (including one adopted daughter from China and another from India), he would also provide a youthful balance to the 71-year-old McCain.

The senator from neighboring Arizona said on Wednesday he had begun the process of finding a running mate, but gave no hints as to whom he might favor. McCain is scheduled to visit Salt Lake City later this month for a fund-raiser.

"I think anyone would be interested in being vice president, but is it a reality? Probably not," Huntsman said. "John McCain's going to have a lot of good choices and I suspect once you do the calculations, Utah probably isn't going to factor into it as a strategically consequential state."

In the past, some presidential candidates have chosen running mates from a different region, often from states with many votes, to balance the ticket. Heavily Republican Utah is considered certain to back the Republican candidate anyway.