Harry Reid met with two-thirds of Barack Obama’s VP selection committee today, but given all of the heat over both appointments, one has to wonder who was vetting whom — and for what. The Obama campaign may have an interest in the Senate Majority Leader as a potential candidate, or perhaps Reid wanted to know whether Jim Johnson and Eric Holder might be interested in some other job:

Two members of Barack Obama’s vice presidential-vetting team met privately Monday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Reid’s spokesman, Jim Manley, said Jim Johnson and Eric Holder spent about 30 minutes with the Nevada Democrat in his Capitol office. …

It was not known whether Johnson and Holder were seeking Reid’s advice about Obama’s search for a running mate, whether he was considered a potential ticket-mate himself, or whether the meeting was for a different purpose.

Republicans across the country immediately began praying that Obama would select Harry Reid as his running mate. If the GOP thought they had a treasure trove of material on Obama, they would have a field day with Reid on the ticket. They could run commercials throughout the entire campaign that would consist of just this:

More than likely, though, this was just a courtesy call. The two had a meeting scheduled with Nancy Pelosi as well, who would also thrill Republicans as a running-mate choice. However, Reid could have a few questions for Johnson and Holder, specifically as to whether it helps Obama to have two party hacks picking his running mate. Holder was up to his ears in the Marc Rich pardon, and Johnson has ethics problems with his actions during the Fannie Mae collapse, as well as with large loans given to him by Countrywide below market rates while running Fannie Mae.

Then again, Holder and Johnson don’t need to meet with Harry Reid to hear those questions. These days, they could hear them anywhere.

Update: John McCain goes after Johnson in this Fox News clip:It doesn’t appear John McCain is going to go easy on Obama. Nor does it appear that the Johnson story will go away quietly, as Obama clearly hoped it will by calling it an “irrelevancy”. How long will it be before Obama declares that Johnson isn’t the man he thought he knew?