Transcript
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Vice President Kamala Harris could announce her running mate within a matter of hours. The move follows a condensed vetting process that lasted just a couple weeks. Retired attorney James Hamilton helped vet vice presidential candidates for four Democratic presidential nominees - Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Our co-host Michel Martin asked him what happens once someone joins the shortlist.
JAMES HAMILTON: The first step, really, is to present the VP candidate with an extremely extensive and invasive questionnaire. The last time I looked at it, it was between 100 and 120 questions. They go into every aspect of somebody's life. We want to know about physical and mental health. We want to look in detail into professional conduct, if there's any extramarital affair or something like that. We want to read everything that anybody has ever written and, in this day and age, look at all materials that have been up on social media.
MICHEL MARTIN, BYLINE: And I wonder, in a way, if it ever goes the other way - that, in a way, it's relieving to have it basically out, you know, and a strategy for addressing it. In a way, it's almost like therapy. You're putting all your stuff out there.
HAMILTON: Well, I'm not a very good psychiatrist, so I don't know if it's good therapy or not...
MARTIN: (Laughter) OK.
HAMILTON: ...But what I will say is that the people being vetted realize that if they don't tell me something and then it comes out in public if they are chosen to be the nominee, that is the worst possible result. So I think in that regard, when people tell me very confidential stuff, there is a certain amount of relief because they know they have been candid and provided that information.
MARTIN: You know, we've heard so much about how important it is for Vice President Harris to select somebody from a swing state with as many electoral votes as possible, which is why somebody like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has been high on the list of favorites. Does that matter? I know that you were in charge of the vetting, but I wonder if the politics is part of it, too.
HAMILTON: Well, yeah, so I think that does come into play. Some people discount that, but in this situation, it would be lovely if Harris could carry Pennsylvania or Arizona, just to give two examples.
MARTIN: Is there anything unique about the role or attributes that a running mate for Kamala Harris needs to have in this election, with this candidate, against former President Trump and J.D. Vance?
HAMILTON: Well, I think Harris has to pick somebody that she is very comfortable with - somebody that has loyalty to her and will promote her interest out there on the campaign trail.
MARTIN: How would you figure out loyalty, something like that? Like, how would you ascertain something like that? Is that something you could get into in the vetting process?
HAMILTON: To some degree, I think that would be up to Harris. And I'm sure she is thinking, is this fellow going to really be loyal to me? Is he going to be an asset on the campaign trail? But it's basically kind of a gut feeling. I remember one candidate at one time called me up and asked me, what do you think, Jim? Who should I choose? There were two prominent candidates, and I said, pick the one you're comfortable with. Pick the one that you have the best chemistry with because that is very, very important out on the campaign trail.
MARTIN: So in the final hours, like, when you're kind of coming down to the wire - right? - do you think, if the candidate's basically sitting with himself - or herself, in this case - and maybe her kind of key people, what do you think's the last question she's going to ask herself?
HAMILTON: I mean, obviously, the most important thing here is to beat Donald Trump, and you want to get somebody who will help her win. She's also going to be saying, could this person be president if I am no longer around? She's going to think about compatibility because if there's some disgruntlement with the VP candidate, that's going to seep out on the campaign trail.
MARTIN: OK. Now, before we let you go, you know I'm going to ask you - is there a name that you favor for Vice President Harris as her running mate?
HAMILTON: I really don't have a favorite. Like everybody else, I'm sitting here with bated breath, waiting for the decision to be made.
MARTIN: That is James Hamilton. He is a retired attorney. He's known as the dean of vetting. He either led or helped vet vice presidential candidates for four Democratic presidential nominees, as well as numerous other nominees for high office. Mr. Hamilton, thank you so much for speaking with us.
HAMILTON: You're very welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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