In recent days, the process of vetting has come squarely to the forefront of public consciousness.

That rather odd word doesn’t refer to putting on a parade for military veterans or to being nice to animal doctors but to checking the credentials of potential candidates for high public office.

When one is being considered for a run for one of the highest offices in the land, no stone is supposed to be left unturned by those scrutinizing, or vetting, the potential candidate.

If you ever were arrested, charged or accused of anything, they are supposed to find out. If you have outstanding library fines from a book you checked out in the late-1980s, they are supposed to ferret out that information, too.

Questions are being asked about how thoroughly John McCain’s campaign vetted Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin before McCain introduced her as his vice presidential running mate.

A series of disturbing revelations have come out in the wake of the announcement, including the fact Palin is involved in a legislative ethics probe and, as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, she obtained nearly $27 million in federal earmarks (a tactic McCain has criticized).

Oh, then there’s the business with the Palins’ 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, and her pregnancy. Surely you’ve heard about it, the national me-dia has latched onto the story in the past few days like hungry dogs pouncing on meaty bones.

We have been treated to a nearly steady diet of details about Bristol Palin’s unfortunate condition, along with questions about what members of the McCain camp knew and when they knew it.

To Barack Obama’s credit, he immediately declared the pregnancy a non-issue. And he’s right, of course. Basically it’s none of our business and something the Palin family should deal with itself, in private.

Bristol apparently plans to marry the 18-year-old father of her baby, which is admirable, though many times teenage marriages don’t work out in the long run.

So that should be it. There should be no more mention of it. That won’t happen, of course, but we can only hope.

Pregnancy should not be an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign, unless, of course, Joe Biden winds up pregnant or something.

The media should focus, instead, on which candidate will balance the budget, which candidate has the best plan for stemming the tide of illegal immigration, which candidate will deal with the economic downturn that has driven more and more Americans into bankruptcy.

We need a workable national energy policy that will help us become less dependent on foreign oil. We need help with the housing crisis. Millions of Americans are without health insurance and thus cannot afford to get sick.

We must decide which candidate can best lead this country through a world in which, it seems, we have more enemies than friends. We must choose the candidate who can best deal with the threat of an increasingly frisky Russia and an obstreperous Iran that is close to attaining nuclear weapons, not to mention ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This election should not be decided by an unfortunate mistake made by the daughter of a vice presidential candidate, or whether Michelle Obama is more likable than Cindy McCain.

We are voting for the future of our nation. Let’s stick to the issues and leave the candidates’ families where they belong, out of the picture.



Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle.