United States Attorney General Eric Holder visited the University of Maine today to deliver the annual William S. Cohen Lecture on International Policy and Commerce. Among the many topics Holder addressed is that the man for whom the lecture is named was on President Obama's short list of picks for vice president.

It was a question from a University of Maine student that prompted U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to reveal one of the nominees for Obama's vice president. Holder was legal adviser to Obama during the presidential campaign, and later on, the committee that recommended a vice presidential choice to Obama.

"Alright, here's a little tidbit," Holder told the gathering. "One of the people that we did consider was this gentleman right here. And Secretary Cohen doesn't really know how close he came in the process. He had one problem, though. He was John McCain's best man at his wedding. And as we played that out we just thought, that's going to be difficult, that's going to be difficult."

Bangor native William Cohen, a Republican who represented Maine in Congress for 24 years and later served as Secretary of Defense in the Clinton administration, introduced Holder. "He has just been an outstanding leader for our country, and what he represents to the nation and to people all over the world is that we do believe in the rule of law, we do believe that people of character can achieve the highest positions in our society."

Cohen did not comment on older's revelation at today's event. A native New Yorker, Holder served under President Bill Clinton as U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., and then as deputy attorney general. He moved into private law practice in 2001. Earlier this year he joined President Obama's cabinet as United States Attorney General.

Holder's speech at UMaine focused on counterterrorism efforts put forth by the federal Department of Justice, but he also answered audience questions on a wide range of topics.

When asked how the federal Dept. of Justice will balance its focus on foreign terrorism with domestic hate crimes, Holder noted the very recent passage of a bill that's been 11 years in the making.

"We have a hate crimes bill that will cover a whole new range of people, categories of Americans - people with disabilities, women, gay/lesbian Americans," Holder said. "And that is a primary tool that we will be able to use in the fight against domestic terrorism. But the premise of the question is exactly right. Our focus is not only on Al Qaeda and those from outside our borders. We focus as well on those groups and those individuals within our borders."

The expanded federal hate crimes law now awaits President Obama's approval. Holder also commented on the Guantanamo Bay detainment facility, saying it will be difficult to meet the January deadline, but that Guantanamo will be closed.

When asked later about his memo asking federal prosecutors not to target marijuana users and distributors in states that allow medical marijuana, Holder said he believes that decision was in the public's best interest.

"Given the limited federal resources that we have, it did not make sense to use those resources investigating - potentially prosecuting - people who were following state law and using marijuana to treat serious diseases, cancer among them," he said. "It does not mean however that we are going to allow people to hide behind state laws and engage in what is the more traditional marijuana trafficking schemes."

Holder says the federal government will respect state laws regarding medical marijuana. Mainers will decide on the November ballot whether to change the medical marijuana laws to allow treatment of more medical conditions and to create a regulated distribution system.