Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer confirms she IS in talks about being Joe Biden's running mate but says she is not being formally vetted - yet

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed Tuesday that she is in talks with Joe Biden's team to join the 2020 ticket. 

'I've had a conversation with some folks,' she told the 'Today' show's Craig Melvin. 'It was just an opening conversation and it's not something that I would call a professional formalized vetting.'  

Biden, now the Democrats' presumptive nominee, announced on a debate stage in March that he planned to pick a female running mate. 

Among the nation's female Democratic governors, Whitmer has been earning the most buzz. 

She's attracted controversy and the attention of President Donald Trump for pushing some of the strictest stay-at-home orders in the country, as Michigan was one of the hardest hit states, outside the epicenter in New York, by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The 48-year-old first-term governor, who previously served in the Michigan state House and Senate, and was a county prosecutor, comes from one of the three states Trump was able to win over Hillary Clinton in 2016, which put him in the White House. 

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed Tuesday that she is in talks with Joe Biden's campaign to be his running mate in 2020 

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Joe Biden, the Democrats' presumptive nominee, announced on the March debate stage that he would choose a woman as his running mate 

If Biden wants to win the White House, one route he could take is to win Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania back.  

But one concern about putting Whitmer on the ticket is that she might have limited time to campaign as the nation's governors have played key leadership roles in getting the U.S. through the pandemic. 

'I am making a little bit of time to stay connected to the campaign, but the most important thing that I have to do right now is be the governor of my home state,' Whitmer said. 'That's all that matters to me in this moment.'   

On 'Today,' Whitmer pressed people to be vigilant as states around the nation begin to reopen after weeks of orders to stay at home.  

'If we drop our guard now, we could be in for a second wave and that would make all of the sacrifice we've made the last 10 weeks in vain and we'd have to take steps backward,' she said. 

'While we're not universal in a lot of things in this moment, I think we all know we don't want to take a step backward and so everyone has to keep their guard up and be vigilant and do everything they can to mitigate the spread,' she added.

A majority of the women Biden is reportedly looking at are instead in the U.S. Senate. 

He's considering a trio of his former rivals: Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar. 

He's ideologically most in-line with Klobuchar. 

He and Harris had a famous spat over busing during the Democrats' first primary debate last June, though she's endorsed the ex-vice president since then. 

Warren could help Biden with progressives, though she fell out of favor with some supporters of fellow progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders for not endorsing his run before he dropped last month.  

This narrative has also been played up by Trump. 

'So selfish for Elizabeth Warren to stay in the race. She has Zero chance of even coming close to winning, but hurts badly,' the president tweeted the morning after Super Tuesday, which saw Biden win 11 of 14 races.  

Biden had been aided by a number of fresh endorsements, including from Klobuchar, while Warren stayed in the race and potentially pulled votes away from Sanders. 

'So much for their wonderful liberal friendship,' Trump wrote. 'Will he ever speak to her again?'   

Two other senators Biden reportedly is looking at are Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who could help him do better with Nevada's Latino population, which tilted toward Sanders, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a military vet. 

Harry Reid, the retired Senate Democratic leader from Nevada, has pushed Cortez Masto as a contender. 

While Sen. Dick Durbin, the other Democratic senator from Illinois, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's No. 2, has pitched Duckworth. 

On Friday Durbin revealed that she was getting an interview with Biden's team. 

'I support Tammy Duckworth. She's spectacular, a great colleague and I hope that she fares well in this interview, which I think is going to take place soon,' Durbin told Newsweek.  

Several women in the running are more non-traditional picks. 

Michelle Obama has been praised by both Biden and his wife Jill, but she's remained consistenly against running for office herself. 

'I have no intention of running for office ever,' Obama wrote in her 2018 autobiography 'Becoming.'  

On the other hand, Stacey Abrams, who lost her election for Georgia governor in 2018, has been vocal about wanting the job. 

Prior to the gubernatorial race, Abrams was the leader of the minority party in the Georgia state House. 

Susan Rice, President Obama's first ambassador to the United Nations who moved into the role of his national security adviser, said in an interview last week that she 'certainly would say yes' if Biden asked her to appear on the ticket.