Still fuzzy around the edges

The Los Angeles Times has a column about the vetting process that okayed Sarah Palin as McCain's vice president:

John McCain first met Sarah Palin in February. Six months later, he asked her to be his running mate. The way McCain weighed and discarded vice presidential prospects over that time has come under scrutiny as the choice of Palin turns politically perilous.
When he assembled a list of twenty prospective running mates, Palin was among them. In early spring, campaign researchers began compiling forty-page dossiers on a number of contenders, including the Alaska governor. Palin was also asked to fill out a 'very intrusive' questionnaire with seventy questions.
McCain did not make up his mind on a running mate until last week. Along the way, he apparently gave serious thought to Joe Lieberman, who was a Democrat and that party's 2000 vice presidential standard-bearer. McCain also considered picking former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. But both Lieberman and Ridge support legalized abortion, and conservative activists made it clear McCain would pay a price if he chose either one. Also believed to be in the final mix were Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who ran for president and exchanged barbs with McCain before quitting the campaign in February.

Rico says McCain is going to have trouble with Palin, for awhile at least, but better her than a lot of those other hacks...