According to Reuters, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is using Google as a tool to do background checks on potential running mates: “You know, basically it’s a Google,” he said to laughter at a fund-raising luncheon when asked how the selection process was going. “What you can find out now on the Internet — it’s remarkable.”

Here’s what he might find on four top potential Republican VP candidates:

–Charlie Crist, governor of Florida –Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor –Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal –Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback

If McCain gets tired of conventional search engines, he can always try specialized “people search” engines.

Related Topics: Search & Society: General | Search Engines: People Search

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling