Questions surround Palin's background check (

Anchorage Daily News ^ | September 2nd, 2008 01:29 AM | RICHARD MAUER, LISA DEMER and SEAN COCKERHAM Anchorage Daily News

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

IN DEPTH? In Alaska, very few people were involved in the GOP vetting process.

Gov. Sarah Palin's reluctant announcement Monday that her unmarried, teenage daughter was within months of making her a grandmother at age 44 also turned a spotlight on Sen. John McCain, who would have Palin as his vice president.

McCain's presidential campaign spent the day trying to assure fellow Republicans and the nation that Palin's background was thoroughly vetted. The pregnancy of Bristol Palin, 17, came as no surprise to them, they said.

But in Alaska, it was hard to find anyone who had been contacted by McCain's campaign.

Thomas Van Flein, the Anchorage lawyer representing Palin and her office in the legislature's investigation into the firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, said he spoke to several representatives from McCain before Palin's selection was announced Friday.

But Van Flein appears to be in a small minority in the vetting of Palin.

The former U.S. attorney for Alaska, Wev Shea, who enthusiastically recommended Palin back in March, said he was never contacted with any follow-up questions.

Chris Coleman, one of Palin's next-door neighbors, said no one representing McCain spoke to him about Palin. Another neighbor also was never contacted, he said Monday.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

McClatchy Newspapers....so may be a bit biased.....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

fyi

[King Hawk]

Do you suppose Obama contacted Biden’s neighbors?

[OCCASparky]

Oh, I get it—since the McCain vetters didn’t talk to every single person Palin has ever associated with, it wasn’t done properly? Really? Seems to me that when I got a security clearance, the FBI didn’t speak to everyone I ever knew in high school and college. Huh—guess that means I wasn’t really trustworthy after all.../sarc

[weegee]

Have impartial audiences seen Barack’s birth certificate? The one that was filed at the hospital, not the modern green “short form”?

Have impartial audiences seen Barack’s Selective Service registration, as required by law?

Barack claims he was not raised as a muslim, that his mulsim fathers were non-observant and although his mother was an atheist he was raised as a Christian. When/where was he baptised and who consented?

[machogirl]

were they supposed to put an ad in the paper?

oh, i get it, they didn’t cowtow and ask the newspaper what they thought

[weegee]

Apparently the DNC didn’t bother to investigate Obama’s neighbors to realize that he knew a terrorist who elluded police for years and bombed the Pentagon.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

LOL...Media doesn't want to worry about that one...

Was just reading this Blog...

You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' ...

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By Josh Marshall

I think TPM Reader JL may be on to something ...

Just a thought, and I doubt I'm the first to think it. Watching that surprising video of Cambell Brown taking Tucker Bounds to the cleaners', I wondered if perhaps what I was really seeing was a mainstream press that is furious with McCain for having embarrassed them. Even if Palin drops out by the end of the week, and Pawlenty or Romney or whomever gets on board and we begin take two of the entire thing, I can't imagine that the press will have retained their abiding love of McCain. After all, they're the ones who nurtured his straight-talkin'-maverick image, and now he has appeared to throw it in their faces. They probably had reporting packages ready to go for all of the other VP possibilities, and nothing for Palin. So it wasn't just the GOP brass McCain was flipping off with this pick--it was his "base," the media. My overall sense of yesterday's coverage was that covering him just wasn't any fun anymore. And those feelings might well last into November.

I think the reason may be slightly different. A lot of Washington reporters have spent a decade loving John McCain. Just a few days ago a friend of mine who was once among the courted explained to me just how different and successful McCain was in the courtship. Off the cuff, frank, entirely accessible. Because of all that, a lot of these people got heavily invested in the maverick and straight-talker image. I'll be honest: back in 2000 and probably until 2002 I was pretty invested in it. Why a lot of people have held on through the last half dozen years of contrary evidence is another question. But the Palin pick is that paradigm-breaking piece of evidence that takes you from 'maverick' to 'reckless' or worse. And claiming that Palin has 'military command' experience as head of the Alaska National Guard gets you from "straight talker' to 'bullshit artist'.

I think you get a feel for the breakdown in this exchange between CNN's Campbell Brown and McCain's Tucker Bounds last night on CNN ...

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[Alter Kaker]

Do you suppose Obama contacted Biden’s neighbors?

I have no idea, but that's besides the point. Biden was a known quantity, an inside the beltway bore that every reporter is already sick of covering. Palin isn't.

She's largely unknown outside of Alaska. As a result, the vetting is key. It's in these early days that the public will make up its mind about her, and it's essential that we're the ones framing the debate instead of Team Obama.

[Domandred]

But in Alaska, it was hard to find anyone who had been contacted by McCain's campaign.

MSM is confused by not having to contact anyone because Sarah either already told them (ie Bristol pregnant), or it was already known in Alaska news (ie firing investigation).

[11th Commandment]

What the MSM is trying to do with the daughter issue is to prove somehow that McCain jumped into his “first” presidential decision. That way they can question his judgment and mitigate Obama own terrible lack of judgment.

[ikka]

Barack claims he was not raised as a muslim, that his mulsim fathers were non-observant and although his mother was an atheist he was raised as a Christian.

How many Christians do you know, that can recite from memory, in perfect Arabic, the Muslim call to prayer?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the Talking Points Memo:

Associated Press To The Rescue! Palin Was Thoroughly Vetted, After All!

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By Greg Sargent - September 2, 2008, 11:04AM

Ron Fournier, send in the cavalry!

On a day when The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and McClatchy all weighed in with tough pieces on the weak vetting of Sarah Palin, the Associated Press rides to the rescue with a piece reporting that Palin was in fact thoroughly vetted after all.

The AP's source for this revelation? Why, the guy who was in charge of the vetting for McCain, lawyer Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. You'll be surprised to hear that he says he did a very thorough job.

The AP piece also has this curious passage, in which the lawyer says Palin had disclosed Bristol's pregnancy to him...

Culvahouse then conducted a nearly three-hour interview. He said the first thing Palin volunteered was that her daughter was pregnant, and she also quickly disclosed her husband's two-decade-old DUI arrest.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Right.....see #13.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Also see #8.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

It’s time we went after Obama and Biden like the MSM is going after Palin. Time for a journalistic bloodletting. Both of their candidates are so flawed as to be ridiculous that the Dim would foist them on the public. You want to bring it on? We’ll do it Chicago style, ala Sean Connery. Time for us to stop putting up with this Dim bullsh*t and take it to them.

[xzins]

Vetting doesn’t necessarily involve asking newspapers and politicians what they think of someone.

I imagine it’s primarily a record check.

Even Time magazine said that the pregnancy was common knowledge in her home town.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the Blogosphere (Flopping Aces):

“Sarah-cuda” vs. “Barry-cuda”

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Posted by: Wordsmith @ 6:06 pm in Barack Obama, Politics, Sarah PalinVisited 369 times, 203 so far today

“I think she’s far more ready to be President if something happens to McCain than Barack Obama would be if something doesn’t happen to McCain.”-Mike Huckabee on Hannity & Colmes, August 29, 2008 (video here)

By way of Pondering Penguin:

in an article on YAHOO! News, four ‘Presidential scholars’ are asked about the choice of Governor Sarah Palin. Examples: “So unconventional was McCain’s choice that it left students of the presidency literally “stunned,” in the words of Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University law professor and scholar of the vice presidency. “Being governor of a small state for less than two years is not consistent with the normal criteria for determining who’s of presidential caliber,” said Joel Goldstein. “I think she is the most inexperienced person on a major-party ticket in modern history,” said presidential historian Matthew Dallek.” “If she had been around for two terms as governor - or been a senator- it would have been an incredible choice,” said historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. “The first thing that hits me,” said Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution, “is that it suggest that John McCain is a gambler. This is a high-roller decision.”

Curt writes:

Thanks to reader Kevin Gregory form McClatchy Watch we find that Matthew Dallek is not an impartial voice:

“Presidential historian” Matthew Dallek belongs to an organization trying to elect Barack Obama.
The organization is called “Historians for Obama.”
I blogged about Matthew Dallek here.

Pondering Penguin adds:

The McCain campaign issued the following statement, “The authors quote four scholars attacking Gov. Palin’s fitness for the office of vice president. Among them, David Kennedy is a maxed-out Obama donor, Joel Goldstein is also an Obama donor, and Doris Kearns Goodwin has donated exclusively to Democrats this cycle. Finally, Matthew Dallek is a former speech writer for Dick Gephardt. This is not a story about scholars questioning Gov. Palin’s credentials so much as partisan Democrats who would find a reason to disqualify or discount any nominee put forward by Sen. McCain.”

The issue of “experience” (and more specifically, “the lack thereof”) has always stood on shaky ground as a political attack point; and now with Sarah Palin on the McCain ticket, it might be a talking point now off the tables. As Michael Medved lays it out,

Yes, this undermines McCain’s future use of the experience issue, but that’s almost certainly a good thing, too. The experience issue has never worked well in presidential elections: Gerald Ford tried it against a one-term Governor of Georgia (the worthless Jimmy Carter) and lost; Carter tried it against Reagan (no foreign policy experience as Governor of California!) and got wiped out; George H.W. Bush tried to make it stick against Bill Clinton and the result was the lowest percentage of the vote for a Republican candidate since Wiliam Howard Taft. The line McCain’s been using “He’s Not Ready to Lead” is still viable – and should emphasize a discussion of Obama’s policies, not his job history—his radicalism, not his resume. Meanwhile, we should invite comparisons of Governor Palin’s experience with Obama’s: won’t the PTA connect more with middle class voters than “community organizer,” and property tax-cutting small town mayor count more than slippery State Senator who voted “present” a disquieting proportion of the time. In any event, both tickets now balance experience with youthful energy – but McCain is balancing it the right way, with the experience at the top.

If Obama supporters now see an opening for attack in regard to Sarah Palin’s “lack” of experience, they will only succeed in bringing back to scrutiny Obama’s own leadership (in)experience. Let’s see that “Tale of the Tape” chart that Curt linked to by Jeff Emanuel, once again:

Office being sought	Vice President	President of the United States and Leader of the Free World
Full name	Sarah Louise Heath Palin	Barack Hussein Obama II
Nickname	Sarah Barracuda	Barry Obama; “The One”
Public opinion	Smoking hot in a “naughty librarian” sort of way	May be The Messiah
Age	44	48
Children	5: two sons, three daughters	2: two daughters
Religion/Church attendance	Evangelical Christian;attends Juneau Christian Center when in Juneau and grew up attending Wasilla Assembly of God	Attended Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years, a “black liberation theology” church formerly led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright and governed according to the Black Value System
Current Job	Governor of Alaska	Junior Senator from Illinois
Previous Public Jobs	Mayor of Wasilla, AK (1996-2002); President of Alaska Conference of Mayors;City Council member (1992-1996)	State Senator (1997-2004);Community Organizer
Executive Experience	Governor for 2 years;Mayor for 10 years	None
Foreign Relations experience	Governor of state that borders two foreign countries (Canada and Russia)	Chaired Senate subcommittee on Europe but never called it into session;once gave a speech to 200,000 screaming Germans
Military Affairs experience	Commander in Chief of Alaska National Guard;Son is enlisted Infantryman in U.S. Army	None
Private Sector Experience	Sports reporter;Salmon fisherman	Associate at civil rights law firm
Speaking ability	Beautifully executed initial stump speech in Dayton, OH hockey arena without a teleprompter	An enter…wait–did you say without a teleprompter??
Most Courageous Moment in Public Service	Resigned in protest from position of Ethics Commissioner of Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders, including the former state Attorney General and the State GOP Chairman (who was also an Oil & Gas Commissioner), who was doing work for the party on public time and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail.	Gave an anti-Iraq war speech to a crowd of anti-Iraq war demonstrators in Hyde Park in 2002
In Current Office Because…	Upset sitting Governor in GOP primary due to public support for her efforts to clean up corrupt government establishment	Republican opponent, who was leading in the polls, was forced to leave race after unsealing of divorce records exposed a sex scandal
Theme:	Change and Clean Government	Hope and Change;”Bringing Change from Outside Washington”
What they’ve done to live that theme:	Replaced entire Board of Agriculture and Conservation because of conflict of interest;Resigned from position of Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose corruption among members of own party	Selected 36-year incumbent Senator as running mate
Family Affairs	May have removed State Public Safety Commissioner as part of effort to protect sister in messy divorce and child custody battle	Often says, “I am my brother’s keeper”;Brother lives in a hut in Nairobi on $12 per year
Union affiliation	Union member, married to Union member	Endorsed by a union
Iraq and Troop Support	Formerly (pre-surge) critical of apparent lack of long-term strategy for Iraq;Visited wounded U.S. soldiers in Germany; visited AK National Guard soldiers deployed to Kuwait; Son deploying to Iraq on 9/11/08 as Army infantryman	Gave an anti-Iraq war speech to a crowd of anti-Iraq war demonstrators;almost visited wounded troops in Germany, but decided to go shopping in Berlin instead
Bipartisan/”maverick” credentials	Married to a non-Republican;Exposed corruption within own party; Campaigned for Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell against corrupt GOP congressman Don Young; Called out Sen Ted Stevens (R-AK) to “come clean” about financial dealings that are under fed investigation	Talks about bipartisanship
Legislative Record	Passed a landmark ethics reform bill;Used veto to cut budgetary spending; Prevented “bridge to nowhere” that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.	Voted “present” over 100 times as IL state senator
How they dealt with corrupt individuals in home city/state	Exposed legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders;Campaigned against corrupt GOP Representative; Ran against and defeated corrupt incumbent governor in GOP primary	Launched political career in home of unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers (and still refers to him as a part of “mainstream Democratic Chicago”;Purchased home with help of convicted felon Tony Rezko
Guns	Lifetime member of NRA and avid hunter;video can be found on YouTube of Palin firing an M4 at a military firing range	Worked to pass legislation in Illinois that would prevent all law-abiding citizens from owning firearms
Earmarks	Opposed “Bridge to Nowhere” project;Said Alaska should avoid relying on federal money for projects; Campaigned against porker Don Young (R-AK) in 2008 primary	Secured federal earmarks for wife’s employer and for campaign bundlers
Abortion	Pro life;gave birth to 5th child knowing that he would have Down’s syndrome	Pro-choice;only IL state sen. to speak against the Born Alive Infant’s Protection Act, which required medical care to be given to live infants who survived abortions

Senator Obama’s spokesman noted upon hearing about Senator John McCain’s selection of Governor Palin: “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.”

Do Democrats really want to go there? Which previous experience serves a president better: Legislative or executive?

No matter, Jay Tea writes why it’s the “mileage and not the years” that is important:

But what matters to me is not quantity of time, but quality. What Palin has achieved in her political career dwarfs Obama’s accomplishments, as well as those of a lot of other politicians with a lot more time in office.

Just click on the links provided in this post if you are unfamiliar with Sarah Palin’s list of accomplishments during time served in public office. Then go visit Wolf Howling (hat tip: Bookworm) for an Obama-Palin comparison that’ll leave you howling in stitches.

Further Reads of Interest:
“The Senator party” vs. “the Governor Party” by Michael Medved
Are Senators Doomed to Lose? by Michael Medved
Obama-Biden: First Time in 68 Years a Ticket with No Military Experience by Michael Medved

Cheney Vice Presidency Provides Model for McCain-Palin by American Power

Also blogging:
Bottomline Upfront

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 6:06 pm and is filed under Barack Obama, Politics, Sarah Palin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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12 comments so far

[cookcounty]

What about vetting Joe Biden and his headed-for-jail LOBBYIST son? (Hunter Biden, the one they disinvited to the DNC convention).

[weegee]

There are former muslims but I don’t know how many people who claim that they were Christians also admit to studying the Koran in class as kids and denied any parental observance of Islam.