Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Vetting the Veep

There's a fascinating account of the Vice Presidential vetting process in the Washington Post HERE. Strikes me you need to be a saint to get through it. Isn't it odd that there is no similar process for Presidential candidates - the ones who are seeking to wield the real power?!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

You would have thought that McCain would chose someone he'd met more than once - that's the most basic vetting.

Anonymous said...

The presidential candidates are just as vetted if not more so - by the people, by the bloggers, by the papers, by the networks, by the PACs and by the opposition political parties. Palin still has weeks and months of vetting to get anywhere near the scrutiny Obama and less so McCain have been put under.

Anonymous said...

Apparently, from the comments on that article, Palin (oh the humanity) supports 'aerial wolf killings'.

Thing is - aerial wolf killings sound frickken awesome.

Anonymous said...

The Presidential candidates have had to win a primary process that's (from declaration of candidacy through to nomination) lasted way over a year and a half, followed every step of the way by breathless attention from the 24-hour news media, the opposition parties, the internet, etc. Is there really still more stuff to find out?

Biden did have something of a campaign, although it never really caught the attention, and Palin has (quite correctly) been keeping her head down in Alaska. If I was a campaign manager, I'd want to have a good sniff around. And, if I found anything awkward, to release in my own time on my own terms. Seems reasonable.

Ben Gray said...

There is a similar process: it's called the Primary.

Iain Dale said...

Benjamin, sorry, but that comment is fatuous. The two processes are beyond comparison.

Anonymous said...

When Palin's spoken to RNC today, hopefully people would start seeing her as a politician, and accord her the same respect they're according the other 3 on their various party tickets.

Ben Gray said...

Is it? The primaries, particularly for the Republican Party, have a habit of getting immensely personal. Just look at the onslaught McCain faced in 2000.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/us/politics/19mccain.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Anonymous said...

There's a fascinating overview of the VP process in this month's American GQ. I agree, the VP is subject to far more oversight than the presidential nominee, who seem to be weeded out more by natural selection. (Sorry can't find it online, if I find the link I'll post it below).

Can't remember who it was but they had to submit 30 boxes of tax returns, prior speeches, positions on issues, just for vetting.

Quite clear this hasn't happened with Palin.

Anonymous said...

It's not in the slightest bit odd.
After the Eagleton debacle, do you really think that Presidential candidates are going to spend 12 months or more fighting for the candidacy, and then risk it all on an un-vetted VP choice ?
... Unless they are reckless gamblers, of course.

Oscar Miller said...

I have been amazed by the outpouring of bile against Sarah Palin. Never have the words 'witch hunt' been more apt. It goes far beyond the tribalism of party politics. She seems to strike some primeval fear in the hearts of the established political elites. The 'red-neck' slur suggests the ultimate 'outsider' - the feared 'other'. Primitive, uncultivated, untamable. The lure and threat of the Id (underlined by all the sexual anxiety on display). All very fascinating. What we need now is not a political analyst but a shrink to scrutinise this extraordinary reaction.

Anonymous said...

Candidates for President decide for themselves that they want the top job and nobody can stop them from going for it. But having gone through all the time, money and effort required to secure your party's nomination, you wouldn't want to risk blowing it by choosing a Veep who has more skeletons in his / her closet than Gunther von Hagens. Hence the vetting process.

I really liked the "if the opposition were hosting a press conference featuring a mystery guest with a negative story about you, who do you think that person would be?" question.

Who would YOUR mystery guest be, Iain? :)

Anonymous said...

I still want to know what makes Obama qualified to be President.

Other than being a blow hard and an airhead he doesn't appear to have ever done anything.

Anonymous said...

Well said, Oscar Miller.

Anonymous said...

Oscar Miller: Spot on. If the gutter press (especially the BBC) investigated the Washington elite in the same way I wonder how many more skeletons they would dig up?

Look at the way they went after Palin, especially the BBC with Justin Webb and sneer boy Frei, YET that scumbag John Edwards who was banging some trollop behind his wife's back NEVER got any attention from the liberal media until he admitted it after being found out by the National enquirer (I think it was)

Yet the liberal media were quick to run an utter pack of lies about John McCain and some 'alleged affair' which the likes of the scummy BBC picked up on.

The liberal media has just shown that they are generally untrustworthy and rather vile people.

Why is what some 17 year old kid writes on Myspace relevant to the election a President?

It just shows how frightened the left are of Palin.

If they didn't think she amounted to much they'd leave it to the king of blowhards (Airbag Biden- the Neil Kinnock of US politics) to tear her apart.

Fact is I reckon she will give a roaring speech tonight.

I notice that Justin Webb has already allowed for this by saying "whatever she says tonight, she'll get a roaring reception"

What like Obama got last week for talking bollocks for an hour?

The left are desperate. The beeboids have been buying up the Champers to celebrate Barack Hussein Obama's victory speech in November. Now it looks like they might have to drown their sorrows instead.

Oh and once McCain gets one to one with Obama and he can't use an autocue we will see just how well the new JFK really does.

Here's an example of what to expect.

Question: When does life begin?

McCain: At conception

Obama: er well un well I... well that above my pay grade.

Anonymous said...

martin, you are karl rove and I claim my prize

Anonymous said...

Oscar M - it's quite easy. She's easily the worst candidate out of this whole primary season to be running for office, and people are quite rightly calling John McCain's decision making process into question.

She got picked cos she's hot.

Not because of her 'executive experience', nor her family values, nor her policy agenda on the economy, foreign policy or green credentials. It's a joke. Except it's not funny because there's a real possibility that Annie Oakley might end up prez.

Too right people are annoyed. I'm mad at McCain for denegrating this election.