John F. Kerry spent yesterday in isolation at his wife's 90-acre suburban farm, working on his convention acceptance speech amid signs that the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee may announce his choice of a running mate here as early as next Tuesday.

Kerry's public campaign schedule has been disclosed only through Monday, the day after he wraps up a Fourth of July bus tour through the Midwest and then flies back to Pittsburgh. His staff has assembled the telephone numbers and schedules next week for potential running mates, said a top adviser to one of the candidates. Kerry has asked a select few of his closest supporters to reserve Tuesday and Wednesday to travel with the campaign, which would allow for a barnstorming tour by the Democratic duo in advance of a gala fund-raiser next Thursday in New York City.

''We're hearing it's going to be Tuesday," said the adviser, who spoke on the condition that neither he nor his boss be identified.

Speculation has focused on three candidates -- Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, US Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, and Senator John Edwards of North Carolina -- but Kerry has limited all concrete information about his search to a tight circle that includes his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, and James A. Johnson, the Washington banker heading his search committee. In recent days, Vilsack has been the focus of a media boomlet, but Kerry aides say other candidates including US Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and former senator Sam Nunn of Georgia remain possible choices.

Whoever the choice and whenever he is announced, the Kerry campaign has already hired the running mate's chief of staff, and is in the final stages of hiring the rest of his staff. The campaign has also reserved a second charter jet and added support staff in its campaign travel office to facilitate travel for the running mate and his entourage, according to Kerry campaign aides. The Secret Service, meanwhile, has agents ready to begin protecting the nominee as soon as the announcement is made.

One top Kerry adviser, speaking last week on the condition of anonymity, said, ''If he wants to make the most popular choice, that would be Edwards. If he wanted to do something out of the box, it would be Vilsack."

Gephardt and Edwards are also considered ''safe choices" because their backgrounds have been examined over decades in public service, in Gephardt's case, or during recent Senate and presidential campaigns, in Edwards's case, the adviser said.

Some Kerry advisers say picking a talent like Edwards would help the ticket in the South and Midwest, and show Kerry has confidence in himself and his plans.

Others say picking Gephardt, a 25-year House veteran, would show confidence, because Kerry is tied with Bush in polls and can make a "safe" choice. They say Gephardt would energize labor and help in must-win Missouri and Ohio...


Kerry has made clear that his partner must be prepared to step into the presidency. Kerry stepson Chris Heinz recently said, "I was very pro-Edwards in the spring, but now I think we may need someone with stronger credentials on foreign policy." Heinz told USA TODAY his comment does not reflect the campaign's thinking. "It was a rookie mistake," he said.

Members of Kerry's foreign-policy team say Edwards, a four-year member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, clears the bar. "John Edwards is a very solid person," former United Nations ambassador Richard Holbrooke, a Kerry adviser, said in an interview. "He knows the issues." He added, "I'm not saying he's the best person for the job. That's for John Kerry to decide."

Edwards is trying to show capabilities on the world stage. He was invited to a prestigious gathering last month in Stresa, Italy. The "Bilderberg conference" assembles VIPs in business, politics and foreign policy. He addressed them on U.S. politics and had private talks on global issues such as trade.

"People were quite positively impressed by him, Americans and Europeans," said Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., former chairman of Goldman Sachs. Edwards' assets, Corzine said, include "fresh thinking" on world issues and a cultural affinity for the South that could help Democrats. That said, he called all of Kerry's prospective running mates "great people."

"I would not have voted for [President Bush's] tax cut, based on what I know...There is no doubt that the people at the top who need a tax break the least will get the most benefit...Too often presidents do things that don't end up helping the people they should be helping, and their staffs won't tell them their actions stink on ice."