NEW YORK - Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois said Tuesday talk about his being a vice presidential candidate on the 2008 Democratic ticket was premature.

"I'm running for president," Obama said on ABC's "Good Morning America." He was responding to comments by Terry McAuliffe, rival Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, that Obama would be considered for vice president.

"I don't think that Senator Clinton would be willing to accept the vice presidency," he said. "I think that would be presumptuous for me."

Obama and Clinton are locked in a fierce race to be the Democratic presidential nominee for the November election. "I think we're getting way too far ahead of ourselves when we start talking about vice presidential candidacies. But I can tell you this, that's not something that I'm running for," Obama said.

If he were down 20 points in the polls, such talk from the New York senator's camp wouldn't be heard, Obama said.

"I think it's a sign that we're doing pretty well," he said.

© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.