Julián Castro, the former Housing and Urban Development secretary who was under consideration to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016, described what the vice presidential vetting process was like for him as Vice President Harris prepares to announce her choice.
“It’s a grind of a process,” Castro said in a post on the social platform X.
The former Obama administration official said he had been notified about being under consideration in mid-June 2016 and that a team of investigators was each assigned between two and three candidates to research.
Each candidate, he said, had to fill out a questionnaire that delved into different aspects of their history, while each team created a portfolio on each candidate under consideration.
“Once that was turned in, each candidate sat with their vetting team for several hours to answer detailed questions,” he wrote. “They were direct and precise, mining for any potential political problem lurking in one’s background. (Memories of the Sarah Palin embarrassment loomed large in this cycle). Some questions were also meant to put the candidate on the spot, ‘Would you have any problem if I were to take your phone from you right now (pointing at the cell phone) and look through it?’ They didn’t actually take it.”
Palin was selected as then-Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) running mate in 2008. Palin soon drew heavy scrutiny over herself and family, including her teenage daughter, who was pregnant at the time. The McCain campaign was forced to answer questions concerning how well the Alaska Republican had been vetted.
McCain said at the time the “vetting process was completely thorough.” He admitted years later, however, that he regretted picking her.
Castro said that after each candidate was interviewed, candidates participated in a follow-up interview, before the list was narrowed down to six or seven people, with Clinton then interviewing each one.
He noted that Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine (D) was chosen as the pick five weeks after the vetting process started.
“In 2016, the speculation was that Clinton might choose a Black or Latino male to balance the ticket. This year, conventional wisdom is that a white male will be chosen. The good news is that VP Harris has several great options,” Castro wrote.
“Trump doubled down on his base with the choice of Vance, making Trump perhaps less competitive with independents than he might have been with a different pick,” he added. “That gives VP Harris a lot of latitude to select a running mate — a progressive or a moderate — who won’t just help her win an election but with whom she has great chemistry and will help her govern effectively.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) are among the candidates being considered by Harris for the No. 2 position, and she interviewed potential picks this past weekend.
A Harris campaign official noted she was considering some of the same attributes to evaluate potential picks that were used in Biden’s selection process in 2020, including having shared values like protecting democracy and fighting for the middle class.
Different calculations go into how presidential contenders pick their running mate. For example, one important question is how the candidate could help expand the electoral map. On that point, Shapiro and Kelly both reside in battleground swing states.
“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?’” James Hamilton, a retired attorney who’s helped presidential candidates including Hillary Clinton and former President Obama with their running mate vetting processes, told NPR in an interview.
“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.”