What Vetting Feels Like

Ever wonder what it's like to be vetted for a Cabinet position? Former Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich describes the experience on his blog:

The process took well over a month, not including the Senate confirmation hearing. I don’t recall doing anything during that interval except responding to questions from the vetting team, the FBI, and oversight committee staffers, both Republican and Democrat.

Reich uses his experience to raise the issue of whether Sarah Palin was properly vetted before being named John McCain's running mate. I'm not entirely sure that's an apt comparison. If Palin had been subject to the full Cabinet-appointee treatment, the cat would've been out of the bag pretty early on McCain's choice of her. And I bet Al Gore didn't undergo the kind of treatment Reich did before Bill Clinton added him to the Democratic ticket in 1992. Of course, Gore had a much bigger longer record of public service than Palin did when he was named.

(Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan)