Sarah Palin has managed to dominate US election coverage without giving a press conference or interview since the joint appearance with John McCain announcing her candidacy as vice president. A Reuters report says to expect her speech to be long on policy and short on details about her personal life:

“She has been preparing for her address with McCain aides. “This speech is about a record of reform, her case for Sen. McCain’s election and a close-up look at an individual with both hands on the steering wheel of America’s energy economy,” McCain aide Tucker Eskew said.

Read the full story here.

Sarah Palin and the VP vetting process

The Washington Post confirms what many people had speculated – that Sarah Palin wasn’t stringently vetted until right before she was announced as the VP pick.

“Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.”

The questionnaire and interview “revealed three new facts previously unknown to the team: Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy, the arrest of her husband two decades ago for driving while intoxicated, and a fine Palin paid for fishing without proper identification”:

“We made a political determination that the American people would not object to a female candidate with a 17-year-old daughter who was pregnant,” Schmidt said Tuesday. “We believed that parents all over America would understand that life happens. The team made a recommendation to the senator that these issues were not disqualifying.”

Read the full story here.

Sarah Palin’s background in politics: Not business as usual

The New York Times has an interesting backgrounder on how Sarah Palin got started in Alaskan politics:

“For all the admiration in Alaska for Ms. Palin, her rapid ascent from an activist in the P.T.A. to the running mate of Senator John McCain did not come without battle wounds. Her years in Wasilla, her first executive experience, reveal a mix of successes and stumbles, with Ms. Palin gaining support from a majority of residents for her drive, her faith and her accessibility but alienating others with what they said could be a polarizing single-mindedness.”

Read the full story here.

VIDEO: The official GOP Sarah Palin video

The GOP has released a video introducing Sarah Palin as VP candidate. You can view it here. As techPresident points out, it’s long on shots from her joint speech withMcCain when her candidacy was announced, and short on much other information.

Another video, available here, shows Palin in a 2006 gubernatorial debate.

Make sure you return to Crikey’s US election page for full coverage of Day 3 at the RNC, including Sarah Palin’s speech.