Do You Know This Woman?

Because I'm not sure John McCain does. Between the ongoing ethics probe by the state of Alaska and the revelation that her unwed teenage daughter is pregnant, you have to wonder how strongly McCain vetted Sarah Palin. Yes, he has an image built around being unconventional and willing to shake things up, but an unknown governor with limited experience (after months of trying to make "experience" the center of his campaign) and some skeletons (in addition to the two other things, she may have been a member of an Alaskan separatist party) in her closet? Why?

The Old Grey Lady says that she wasn't even vetted like other prospective running mates were.
According to the Times' Elisabeth Bumller, McCain offered the job to Palin almost immediately after meeting her for the second time in his life on Thursday.

The details

Up until midweek last week, some 48 to 72 hours before Mr. McCain introduced Ms. Palin at a Friday rally in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. McCain was still holding out the hope that he could choose a good friend, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, a Republican close to the campaign said. Mr. McCain had also been interested in another favorite, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.

But both men favor abortion rights, anathema to the Christian conservatives who make up a crucial base of the Republican Party. As word leaked out that Mr. McCain was seriously considering the men, the campaign was bombarded by outrage from influential conservatives who predicted an explosive floor fight at the convention and vowed rejection of Mr. Ridge or Mr. Lieberman by the delegates.

Well that was to be expected. After all, you can only be so much of a "maverick." But why not someone like Mitt Romney or T Paw, who are better known? Romney has already had the national media go through his record with a fine tooth comb and both men offered much less risk. Apparently Rick Davis, McCain's campaign director and protege of Rove, was pushing for McCain to swing for the fences and shake things up, even though the others had been thoroughly vetted and Palin hadn't.

I'm not going to say this is a Thomas Eagleton (google it) situation yet, but McCain hurt his own campaign by trying too hard. No, Romney or T Paw wouldn't have made the earth stop less than 24 hours after Barack Obama's stadium status speech, and Lieberman or Ridge would have never flown with pro-life conservatives, but this is a classic case of thinking like a candidate instead of a president. In their effort to win the post-DNC press coverage, they may lose the campaign.