Mark Segraves

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D)Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) played the jester in a joint appearance with Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty on WTOP's 'Hands Across the Potomac,' a show that brings regional leaders together to talk about shared issues.

And while local issues took precedence this morning, host Mark Segraves and Gov. O'Malley could not ignore the elephant in the room: media buzz about Kaine's prospects as a the Democratic vice presidential candidate.

The front page of today's Washington Post listed the Virginia governor as at the top of Barack Obama's shortlist for potential picks. Politico has also reported that he "ranks very, very high on the short list," according to someone close to a senior Obama aide.

O'Malley was first to broach the subject with a joke. Kaine was talking about a Metro funding summit to reduce traffic congestion when his fellow governor chimed in, "We're confident that Vice President Kaine will be a terrific advocate for this at the federal level."

For the most part, Kaine was coy on how serious his talks with the Obama campaign are.