All about vetting in Biden’s VP search
There will be blood tests. Interrogations about junior high. An analysis of tax returns.
It is an experience Joe Biden knows all too well from his time on the vice presidential shortlist 12 years ago.
Much about Biden’s own search for a running mate has been nontraditional. He has publicly mused about his criteria. He is not considering men. Above all, his choice could be the most important in years: At 77, Biden has said he views himself as a “transition candidate.” Left unsaid: His vice president could very well end up being the president next.
Yet as much as Biden’s process is unique, its contours are familiar. Late last month, he told a local television station that his campaign had begun “doing the background checks” — the latest sign that he is moving toward a short list of candidates.
If history is a guide, Biden’s top contenders should expect to submit themselves to a process that veterans liken to a series of graphic medical procedures.
Evan Bayh, a former Democratic senator from Indiana and a repeat vice presidential contestant, somewhat famously compared the vetting process to a colonoscopy — “except they use the Hubble telescope on you.”
One of the cardinal rules of the process is secrecy, and nearly everyone obeys. Most potential running mates do not speak about the search, if they acknowledge they are being vetted at all.
Presidential candidates consider many factors when selecting their running mates. Vetting procedures have become increasingly rigorous, in part because campaigns are wary of what can happen if details are overlooked. More recently, the availability of potentially incriminating details on the internet has made vetting seem more imperative than ever, lest anyone dig up a surprise. (Of course, the election of President Donald Trump showed that voters might also shrug off what might once have been disqualifying information.)
Julián Castro, whom Hillary Clinton vetted extensively in 2016, said her campaign had given him a survey seeking answers to more than 120 questions about his personal, political and financial history.
“You recognize the gravity of this process,” he said. “But it still has this spy thriller, cloak-and-dagger aspect to it all.”