Yeetle Box - Vetting Sarah

Sarah Palin voluntarily told John McCain's campaign about her pregnant teenage daughter and her husband's 2-decade-old DUI arrest during questioning as part of the Republican's vice presidential search. The Alaska governor also greatly detailed the dismissal of the state's public safety commissioner that has touched off a legislative investigation - and McCain still selected her, much to the surprise of everyone other than those within the McCain campaign headquarters.

Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., the lawyer who conducted the background review, said that Palin underwent a "full and complete" background examination before McCain chose her as his running mate - a background which yielded results that would disqualify Ms. Palin for most entry-level positions in most industries within the United States.

Asked whether everything that came up as a possible red flag during the review already has been made public, Culvahouse said: "I think so. Yah, I think so. Correct. You betcha! Yup! Yes, sir! No problems here. Everything's good!"

A campaign-issued timeline said McCain initially met Palin in February, then held ONE phone conversation with her last week before inviting her to Arizona, where he met with her a SECOND time and offered her the job Thursday. That's oneth by phone, twoeth by land!!! (None by sea.)

Then came the campaign's disclosure that Palin's unmarried 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was pregnant. McCain had few intelligble comments, but did note that at least the daughter had no intentions of aborting the child - and that went in Palin's favor as his running mate and as a firm right-to-life proponent. Bristol had no comment. The father, Levi Johnston, who was a hockey player at Bristol's high school, told local newspapers that Bristol was "hot."

If that were not enough, the campaign also disclosed that Todd Palin, husband to Sarah Palin, then age 22, was arrested in 1986 in Alaska for driving under the influence of alcohol - just like George W. Bush.

At several points throughout the vetting process, McCain's team warned Palin that the scrutiny into her private life would be intense and that there was nothing she could do to prepare for it - that she would be treated no better nor worse than a terrorist subject.

Culvahouse disclosed details of his examination.

First, a team of some 25 people working under Culvahouse culled information from public sources for Palin and other prospective candidates without their knowledge. For all, news reports, speeches, financial and tax return disclosures, litigation, investigations, ethical charges, marriages and divorces were reviewed. They also ran her name through several search engines such as Google, Ask Jeeves, and Yahoo.

For Palin specifically, the team studied online archives of the state's largest newspapers, including the Anchorage Daily News, but didn't request paper archives for Palin's hometown newspaper. "I made the decision that we could not get it done and maintain secrecy," Culvahouse said. "Besides, if it wasn't online, who would know?"

Among the details McCain's campaign found: Palin had once received a citation for fishing without a license. They laughed heartily.

Palin, like others on the short list, then was sent a personal data questionnaire with 70 "very intrusive" questions, Culvahouse said. Those questions, which she answered all by herself, included:

• Do you sleep nude or in pajamas?
• Do you fantasize about older men?
• Much older men?
• Vietnam POWs?

She also was asked to submit a number of years of federal and state tax returns, as well as any controversial articles she had written or interviews she had done. The campaign also checked her credit. Then, Culvahouse conducted a nearly three-hour-long interview. Three hours! Holy smokes! That's a long job interview. Almost as long as an interview with a big box retailer!

He said the first thing she volunteered was that her daughter was pregnant, and she also quickly disclosed her husband's DUI arrest. (Phew. Dodged a bullet. I remember when I disclosed in a job interview at a small factory that I once took LSD. They said I was a "bad fit.")

Early on, the public search unearthed details of the investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that Palin ordered the dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper.

Culvahouse said that he asked follow-up questions during the interview, and "spent a lot of time with her lawyer" on the matter. Follow-up questions, too? Wow!

"We came out of it knowing all that we could know at the time," he said. "Now, that doesn't mean we came out of it knowing everything. Just all we could know at the time! You know, time is an ever-flowing river."

As for the financial records review, Culvahouse said: "It was very clean. We had no issues there. Overall, we have conluded that Ms. Palin is hot!"

Some day someone might disclose that Ms. Palin was nearly recalled as Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska for firing the Police Chief and Library Director for not supporting her in her 1996 race for Mayor.

Oops!

The YeetleMaster