WashPost has detailed story on Palin's vetting process

[bidenista]

Palin Made an Impression From the Start
Fellow Maverick Survived McCain's Thorough Vetting Process, Aides Say

By Dan Balz and Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 31, 2008; A01

...Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager and the person at the point of the vice presidential process, said there was no abrupt change of course in the final hours. Nor, he said, was Palin selected without having gone through the full vetting process that was done for other finalists. That process included reviews of financial and other personal data, an FBI background check and considerable discussion among the handful of McCain advisers involved in the deliberations.

"Nobody was vetted less or more than anyone in the final stages, and John had access to all that information and made the decision," Davis said. "It's really not much more complicated than that."

In part to blunt criticism that McCain had pulled a last-minute switch and turned to Palin without all the information he may have needed to make a decision, some of those advisers shared details yesterday about the steps that led to McCain's choice, mostly on a not-for-attribution basis. Six people were involved in the secretive deliberations that led to Palin's selection: McCain; his wife, Cindy; campaign manager Davis; longtime confidant Mark Salter; senior adviser Steve Schmidt; and key strategist Charlie Black. In addition, Washington lawyer A.B. Culvahouse oversaw the vetting.

Starting last spring, the inner circle met regularly with McCain to review and discuss an initial list of about three dozen possible choices. "He and several of us had multiple meetings," one adviser said. "Discussions, strengths and weaknesses of all the candidates. He asked a lot of questions and listened -- didn't tip his hand to too many of us. He was very insistent that this process often wounds people, and we were to stay very quiet. We obviously were looking at a lot of different options," another adviser said. "We looked at base options, women, pro-choice, pro-life, people outside the party. It was a very broad and deep search. Most of the people we checked out never made it into the public domain, and some speculated on were very, very competitive for the job."

But this adviser added that because the process was so leak-free, the public knew little about the actual deliberations, and the campaign did not try to knock down incorrect speculation....

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/30/AR2008083002377_pf.html

Seems to suggest that it's not that they didn't know about the stuff we're finding. They just didn't care.

[TwilightZone]

1. I think that they just used a dartboard.

And her name was on every number.

[madaboutharry]

2. She is not a maverick.

She is a republican hack.

[Coexist]

so why suddenly send 8 people to Wasilla to check on her?

If they vetted her properly, why did they not access the local paper's microfiche archives? They didn't. They're (surprise, surprise) lying and spinning.

[nc4bo]

5. You nailed it. nt

[vaberella]

16. Was this confirmed by other bloggers or MSM?

Because I read on only one site with others linking to that site.

[Coexist]

21. this site:

they are vetting now or was that last week?

..They landed today 8/31/08. AH

______________

Could you explain this post? Do you mean that AFTER Palin is announced as the VP choice the vetters are sent in? After? If there are 8 McCain operatives in Wasilla at this point it would be better to suppose they were spin-doctors, records scrubbers, pay-off artists and a host of other types to ensure nothing upsets the applecart in which the unvetted choice is riding.

...There have been questions about just how much vetting was done. This is a small state, you can't sneeze without someone knowing. To conduct any type of sensibls vetting process, there would have been word on the street in no time. Now it makes sense why everyone was so shocked at the pick.




http://www.andrewhalcro.com/vetting_the_veep_post_announcement?from=30&comments_per_page=30

[mmonk]

3. That speaks volumes, doesn't it?

Talk about lack of judgement.

[vaberella]

17. Agreed. If this is true, it's ridiculously damaging to his credibility & ADVISORS. n/t

[jazzjunkysue]

29. They're going to live to regret this piece. In another week, you'll see them try to

wiggle out of thes, someone will get fired, on and on.

The truth is, her secrets are known in alaska, but their local guy, Stevens, is in so much trouble of his own, that he didn't alert the powers that be to her skeletons, of which many are already public record.

This "thorough process" didn't reveal that she's under investigation? Really?

The. Gang. That. Couldn't. Shoot. Straight.

If you made this stuff into a TV sit com, no one would believe it!

[jazzjunkysue]

31. OK. I WAS WRONG!! "In another 15 minutes, they're going to live to regret this piece"

AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Thoroughly vetted....MY ASS!!!!!!!!
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[mmonk]

30. Yes indeed.

I believe the only vetting they did was through the religious right.

[nc4bo]

4. I don't believe that. I just can't believe it.

If proper vetting was done on all the candidates on the list, they why in the hell did the Mccain campaign jump on a plane and head to Alaska like the hounds of hell were on their heels?????!!!

No, not buying it. I just can't allow myself to buy it.

[bidenista]

7. to plant stuff for dems to find?

At this stage, I think none of us has any idea what games are being played.

[Coexist]

10. please. they didn't even research the local paper.

Obama is the first team to even check those. They're lying.

[indie_voter]

12. exactly. They are lying. As usual. n/t

[Native]

27. Exactly - the archives are accessed the old-fashioned way -

when the dems got there, they were told no one had accessed them in quite a while (archives for the local paper).

[nc4bo]

11. Throw out baby-gate and there are plenty of *gates* to ask questions about.

Won't even get into her claim to be experienced enough to if necessary, become POTUS and CIC.

What a gamble to take if you want to win an election.

[vaberella]

18. Yuppers. n/t

[Frank Booth]

6. "Fellow Maverick"?

:argh:

[pdxmom]

8. Look at the group that made the decision. Totally a group mind-think. No

room for any outside or objective opinion. This shows what a McSame administration would look like - A Bush administration.

[ErinBerin84]

9. I don't really know if I believe it either.

She may have been subject to some low level vetting, but I really doubt that she had advanced to the level of Pawlenty. That is, IF the vetting process was serious in any way. And if they really did do high level vetting on Palin and decided to go ahead , they are even more reckless and stupid than I thought.

[Native]

28. Bush is the perfect example of how "stupid" has infiltrated the highest ranks of government...

The vetting process could have very easily been compromised by a pervasive lack of ability & brains along with an overabundance of ego.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

13. Being I'm a cynic who's certain the last two presidential elections were stolen,

and feels that democracy has become an illussion in the United States...

I think they picked Palin so they could use her as an excuse for a GOP win.

All we hear from our corporate owned and controlled media is how "close this election is", and how "Obama needs Hillary supporters to win" (what BS). If the GOP steals this election (like they did in the past), our media will tell us it's because Hillary supporters put McCain over the top. ...And America will swallow the line hook line and sinker.

[liberalmuse]

14. Bullshit!

Many of the people who should've been contacted say they never heard from the McCain team, and that a team did not show up to check her out. None of the information needed to vet Palin could be found online. Once again, we have proof that the newspapers are fed their stories by biased operatives rather than them bothering to investigate the facts for themselves.

[Cosmocat]

19. DITTO ...

This is a HUGE bullshite. It REEKED of impetuousness, you can just feel it vicserally (sp). There were literally HUNDREDS of candidates who were more qualified AND who would have been better strategic choices. ANYONE with any common sense can see this lady for the Brittany Spears type trainwreck she is.

You never quite can quanfify how much the MSM acts as a propogandist arm for the republican party, and this is yet another low level they have sunk to. That ANY media person would not call this for the flat irresponsible pick it is, that they would allow ANY republican whore ANY air time to advance ANY kind of propoganda to point it otherwise, is proof positive that the media is COMPLETELY in the bag for the Rs.

COMPLETELY.

[C_U_L8R]

15. I think they panicked

Let's give our team some credit... we kicked ass in Denver
and the Republicans totally messed their diapers.

[City of Mills]

20. 6 people thoroughly vetted approximately three dozen potential candidates?

hmmm...OK!

[BeyondGeography]

22. And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to nowhere that I'd like to sell you

[Heather MC]

23. We've done a better job vetting this woman

I have a question, How come McCain' vetting team was kept secret but Obama's vetting team was essentially dragged out into the streets and picked and prodded. Obama's vetters were vetted by the media, but McCain got to operate in secret

THEY ARE ALL IN IT TOGETHER UP TO THEIR EYEBALLS

[BumRushDaShow]

26. Exactly.

They hounded Carolyn Kennedy and Eric Holder and raked Jim Johnson through the coals until he left. Meanwhile, like what happened during the primaries since March, McSame was given a complete pass. Obama didn't secure enough for the nomination until June and only then started selecting people to vet a VP. McSame secured his nomination in March and sat back and coasted until Friday, with no media scrutiny whatsoever.

[BumRushDaShow]

24. "But this adviser added that because the process was so leak-free, the public knew little

about the actual deliberations, and the campaign did not try to knock down incorrect speculation...."

Because there WAS no process! :rofl:

[beac]

25. What a complete and total crock!

This article sounds like a McCain press release, for crying out loud.

Interesting that Cindy is vetter #1. And Sarah apparently can't make a decision without Todd's permission. That's be one CROWDED Oval Office!

[jazzjunkysue]

32. Thoroughly vetted...MY ASS!!!!!! Rec it! reci it!

Please, keep this recced with the babygate story.