At the White House as elsewhere, Vice President George Bush's search for a running mate has people guessing _ and now one of their own is part of the guessing game. President Reagan says he's just guessing along with everybody else. ``I don't have a candidate,'' he said Wednesday when asked about it. ``That's up to him.'' Reagan also was asked about a newspaper column suggesting his national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Colin L. Powell, as a possibility for the second spot on the ticket. Powell is the first black ever to hold the post of national security adviser. ``You'd better watch out,'' the president quipped. ``He's standing right behind you.'' Powell, stationed behind the group of reporters who were questioning Reagan during an Oval Office photo opportunity, made no comment. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, asked what he thought of Powell as a vice presidential prospect, said, ``Colin Powell is a great American and would be an outstanding candidate for any position. I hope he's listening to this.'' Fitzwater's daily briefings are piped into the offices of top White House aides. Later, as Reagan bade farewell to visiting Icelandic Prime Minister Thorsteinn Palsson in the White House East Room, the question came up again. Secretary of Defense Frank C. Carlucci, responding to a reporter's query, nodded toward Powell and said with a grin, ``He's my candidate.'' Powell just grinned and shook his head but said nothing. Before he went to the Pentagon, Carlucci had Powell's job, and Powell was his deputy. The most recent thing Powell has said about his future was in a speech to the World Affairs Council of Los Angeles on July 19. ``As for myself,'' he said, ``I expect to go back to a nice quiet foxhole where I can serve my country in a more comfortable and perhaps less exposed position.'' Powell is an army officer and, before becoming Carlucci's deputy in January 1987, was commanding General of V Corps in Frankfurt, West Germany. The questions about his future were spurred by a column in Wednesday's Washington post by William Raspberry suggesting that it would be a ``brilliant idea'' for Bush to pick Powell as his running mate. Despite the jesting tone of the questions and answers, it's not just a joke. Rep. Jack Kemp, R-N.Y., who is himself a potential vice presidential candidate, is among those who have mentioned Powell as a possible Bush running mate. The congressman's press secretary, Marci Robinson, said Kemp believes Powell would be ``an exciting choice'' with the foreign affairs and other experience to be able to serve as president if necessary and that ``politically speaking, it would hit the Democrats at their strength.'' Powell is the only current White House aide being mentioned as even a remote possibility to be Bush's running mate, although former chief of staff Howard H. Baker Jr. has been reported under consideration. Fitzwater was asked jokingly whether he is interested. ``I`m available,'' he replied to laughter. ``I ought to get the honesty vote. I say it right up front _ I will be vice president. Just ask. I never disparaged the job. I thought it was terrific when I was on the staff.'' Fitzwater was Bush's press secretary before taking his present job.
Lt. General Colin Powell, the National Security Adviser, has been suggested as a possible running mate for Vice President George Bush by a newspaper column and some federal government officials. The column, published in Sunday's edition of USA Today, said Powell is "widely regarded as one of America's most respected military leaders" who would be an ideal vice presidential candidate. The most recent thing Powell has said about his future was in a speech on July 19 in Los Angeles. He said he expected "to go back to a nice quiet foxhole where I can serve my country in a more comfortable and perhaps less exposed position."