How thorough was her vetting, really? Could anyone have possibly given her a scrupulous enough vet? How much of a problem was it that the rest of the campaign had to struggle to figure out who she was along with the rest of us?

The vetting was clearly minimal at best. The McCain campaign's priority was secrecy, not thoroughness. Palin filled out a questionnaire, A.B. Culvahouse did a phone interview with her for a few hours, Steve Schmidt and Marc Salter spoke with her in person, and that was about it. Though they successfully pulled off the secret mission of plucking the sitting governor from Alaska unnoticed, the consequences of not thoroughly understanding their own candidate became clear almost immediately. It was major problem for the communications shop, since they were unable to handle media requests and answer questions about Palin quickly and correctly. They knew almost nothing about her at first and were given no heads up that she was a serious candidate for the VP slot.



Why did she force Steve Schmidt to tell her children about her decision to run? What was that about?

It certainly seems odd that Palin would have a stranger announce to her children that their mother was running for vice president. Though we can't pretend to know for certain why she did so, one McCain staffer speculated to us that Palin thought that having Steve Schmidt make a grand announcement would add to the excitement of the event. Still, Palin's lack of candor about the event in her interview with Sean Hannity is a perfect example of her tendency to wildly exaggerate the truth.

Does she want to run for president in 2012? Who does she think she represents? Does she acknowledge the perception that Americans don't think she's prepared?

We both strongly believe that she will at least explore the possibility of running for president in 2012. She has not been very coy about her presidential ambitions, saying more than once that she would "crash through" any doors that might open for her on the road to the White House. She thinks she represents the deeply conservative Republican base--the people whom she really does seem to believe represent the "real America." It does not seem that she realizes just how polarizing she really is. It's important to remember that she spoke to adoring crowds of tens of thousands of people who hung on her every word during the 2008 campaign, and she will do the same thing on her upcoming book tour. Sarah Palin is someone who is heavily impacted by perceptions she gains from what she sees with her own eyes.

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