Mitt Romney: No final decision on VP pick yet

With his eagerly anticipated selection due any week now, Mitt Romney maintained Thursday that he has not made a final decision about his nominee for vice president.

“We have a large number of qualified people, and so I have a very strong group of people that I can consider,” Romney said in an interview with Sean Hannity on his radio program. “There’s not a decision that’s finalized yet.”

Romney returned to the campaign trail Thursday after a weeklong overseas trip, with clues that he’s nearing that final decision on his would-be number two. The campaign advisor tasked with leading the search efforts, Beth Myers, reportedly joined Romney on the trail in Colorado. CNN reported that Romney would also meet with Republican governors while he is in the state.

Romney was characteristically cagey about his deliberations, with only the vaguest hints offered in response to friendly questioning from Hannity.

“The process has worked really well,” he said. “I have a good rapport with each of the people that we’re speaking with. I’m pretty confident that this process will go in a way that’s satisfactory to me and to the nation.”

In recent election cycles, the choice of a running mate has been made known most often in the days leading up to the respective parties’ nominating conventions. One notable exception was in 2004, when John Kerry announced the choice of John Edwards several weeks before the Democratic convention.

This year’s Republican National Convention begins Aug. 27.

michael.memoli@latimes.com