Palin VP Vetter Stands by 'High Risk, High Reward' Recommendation to McCain Camp

The man who led the team that vetted Sarah Palin to be John McCain's running mate said he stands by his recommendation that she was a "high risk, high reward" candidate.

A.B. Culvahouse, part of O'Melveny & Myers LLP, reflected on the vice presidential vetting process in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Wednesday. In it, he described the litany of information short-listed picks are required to turn over: "tax returns, medical histories, financial statements, court records, and anything else labeled "private and confidential," while also answering the most probing questions about themselves, their spouses, their children and their extended family."

Culvahouse has been part of the vice presidential vetting process in four elections, starting with assisting potential candidates for Gerald Ford's campaign in 1976, and working up to running the process for McCain in 2008.

"In 1976, the Ford campaign's vetting questionnaire had 16 questions; the one we used in 2008 had almost 80, with multiple subparts. We asked about infidelity, sexual harassment, discrimination, plagiarism, alcohol or drug addiction, delinquent taxes, credit history, and use of government positions or resources for personal benefit. Nothing was off-limits."

The vetting of Sarah Palin was no less rigorous, just compressed. She was a late addition to the short list, catapulted into contention by the campaign's calculus that a woman would broaden the ticket's appeal. Our team of lawyers churned out the expected detailed written vetting report—only we packed eight weeks of research into less than one. We pulled information from Alaska-centric websites, including her local critics' blogs and copies of Wasilla church sermons.

Assisted by the candid information Gov. Palin provided, we identified and reported every issue that subsequently arose (with one exception: her husband's membership in the Alaska Independence Party).

That includes her daughter's pregnancy, which the governor raised in a private discussion, and the ethics investigation into the July 2008 dismissal of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan for allegedly refusing to fire the governor's ex-brother-in-law, which later became known as "Troopergate." In fact, we presented the McCain campaign with a six-page analysis of that initial investigation, and in November 2008 the Alaska State Personnel Board found that Gov. Palin had not violated any ethics laws.

Gov. Palin's responses to my standard hypothetical questions—Was she prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend our country? Would she authorize a strike against Osama bin Laden if she knew that numerous civilians also would be killed?—portrayed impressive resolve and sensitivity.

Nevertheless, I advised Sen. McCain that because her duties had never encompassed foreign policy or defense issues Gov. Palin would not be ready to be vice president on Jan. 20, 2009—but that I believed she had the presence and wherewithal to grow into the position. I summed up her selection as "high risk, high reward." I stand by that advice.

Read the full piece here.