PROVIDENCE — While the national media swirls with speculation concerning Sen. Jack Reed’s chances of being Barack Obama’s running mate, Reed continues to pile up the campaign contributions for his reelection run against Republican Bob Tingle.

Federal campaign reports for the 90-day period ending June 30 show that Reed harvested another $450,000 in campaign cash to bring his total war chest to $3.8 million.

Reed, running for his third term in the Senate, faces a rematch with Republican Bob Tingle of Westerly. Reed crushed Tingle in 2002.

Reed is considered by Washington, D.C.-based campaign experts to have one of the nation’s safest Senate seats up for election this November.

Since Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, announced last weekend that Reed will accompany him on his upcoming trip to Iraq, the Jamestown resident has been asked repeatedly if he would welcome being the vice-presidential candidate.

So far, Reed’s answer is that he is seeking reelection and isn’t focused on the vice-presidential sweepstakes.

While Reed continues to harvest money, Tingle hasn’t been raising any and said yesterday he knows he probably won’t be able to raise significant amounts of campaign money.

“There is no way I’m going to compete with Jack Reed on [money] so I’m not even going to try,” said Tingle yesterday. “Instead I’m going to focus on two issues, illegal immigration and drilling for more oil.”

Tingle, who works as a pit boss at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, said he is going to highlight his opposition to amnesty for illegal immigrants and such legislative fixes as the proposed McCain-Kennedy measure that would have provided a path to citizenship for people in the United States illegally.

“He is a big supporter of giving amnesty to illegal immigrants and I’m not,” said Tingle. “These people knew when they came here that they were here illegally.”

Tingle said he believes the government should target employers who hire illegal immigrants. “The people who hire them, we really have to crack down on these employers.”

On energy, Tingle says that laws barring oil drilling in environmentally sensitive areas, such as in Alaska and along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, ought to be repealed to increase the nation’s energy supply.

“The price of electricity is going up 21 percent and heating oil is $4.75 a gallon,” said Tingle. “And Jack Reed doesn’t want us drilling for more oil. Well, thanks Jack.”

Reed was not available for comment yesterday, according to his spokesman, Chip Unruh.

smackay@projo.com