RICHMOND, Va. — John McCain's campaign has asked Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor to provide some personal documents as the Republican presidential candidate steps up his search for a running mate, the Associated Press has learned.

Cantor, 45, the chief deputy minority whip in the House, has been mentioned among several possible running mates for McCain. A Republican familiar with the conversations between Cantor and the campaign said Cantor has been asked to provide documents.

The individual spoke anonymously because neither the McCain campaign nor Cantor's office wishes to discuss the running mate selection process that is under way.

Cantor and the campaign both declined comment.

Cantor has strong support among the party's conservatives, perhaps comforting a segment of the GOP base that has been reluctant to embrace McCain.

OBAMA: MCCAIN CYNICAL, NOT RACIST

ORLANDO, Fla. — Republican candidate John McCain's presidential campaign is cynical, not racist, in its efforts to distract voters from real issues, Democratic rival Barack Obama said yesterday.

"In no way do I think that John McCain's campaign was being racist," Obama said in his first meeting with reporters since suggesting in a speech that McCain and other Republicans would try to cast him in voters' minds as a risky choice because he doesn't look like "all those other presidents on the dollar bills" — most of them older white men.

"I think they're cynical," he said of the McCain campaign. "And I think they want to distract people from talking about the real issues."

Obama stayed a second day in Florida to speak to the National Urban League, the predominantly black group McCain had addressed a day earlier.

OBAMA AGREES TO 3 DEBATES IN FALL

WASHINGTON — Democratic candidate Barack Obama yesterday backed away from rival John McCain's challenge for a series of joint appearances, agreeing only to the standard three debates in the fall.

In May, when a McCain adviser proposed a series of pre-convention appearances at town hall meetings, Obama said, "I think that's a great idea."

Over the summer, stumping on the campaign trail, McCain has often noted that Obama did not follow through and join him in any events.

OBAMA STILL LEADS IN FUNDRAISING

The end of July brought a push by presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama to fatten their campaign coffers before reporting their monthly figures to the Federal Election Commission.

"We need to show the strength of our grassroots movement," Democrat Obama wrote in an e-mail solicitation.

His online and small-donor fundraising has far eclipsed McCain's.

McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, took the more traditional route this week.

He raised millions of dollars in California, Colorado, Missouri and Bermuda (via video).

The Colorado event alone brought in $3.2 million.

He took in at least $1 million in California.