VP quest: Stamp it `top secret'

[Wickerman]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2027&ncid=2027&e=8&u=/chitribts/vpqueststampittopsecret

Here in Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack's hometown, a humble community of 8,700 in the southeastern corner of the state, word has slowly spread that the highly secretive Democratic vice presidential search committee requested copies of the local newspaper dating back nearly 20 years. As investigators pore over each chapter in the life of a prospective candidate, even such tedium as Mayor's Moments, a column once penned by Vilsack, must be scoured for any glint of controversy.

The political detective work under way in Mt. Pleasant--and into the backgrounds of Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites) of North Carolina, Rep. Richard Gephardt (news, bio, voting record) of Missouri and a handful of other prospects--has become the most closely guarded element of the presidential race.

-snip-
n the end, there is one guiding principle of a vice presidential selection: Do no harm to the ticket.

So the volumes of documents under review, including legislation from Vilsack's time as a state senator and his first six years as governor, also feature columns about ordinary citizens such as Florence Olomon, a town clerk that then-Mayor Vilsack wrote about in 1990.

The Kerry campaign also has ordered the all the public writings of Christie Vilsack, the governor's wife and a former columnist for the afternoon daily of Henry County.

[TexasSissy]

1. Hmmmm. Kerry's taking a hard look at him, I guess.

I hear that Vilsack would be an asset. And Kerry owes him big time, for the show of support his wife gave, enabling Kerry to win Iowa, which snow balled, of course.

But I don't know much else about Vilsack.

[Wickerman]

2. I'd rather see him in the cabinet

I don't think he brings enough to the table nationally. And I consider myself a fan of the man.