VP quest: Stamp it `top secret'
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By Jeff Zeleny Tribune national correspondent
Before John Kerry (news - web sites) chooses his running mate, a few more tattered back issues of the Mt. Pleasant News must be reviewed.
Here in Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack's hometown, a humble community of 8,700 in the southeastern corner of the state, word has slowly spread that the highly secretive Democratic vice presidential search committee requested copies of the local newspaper dating back nearly 20 years. As investigators pore over each chapter in the life of a prospective candidate, even such tedium as Mayor's Moments, a column once penned by Vilsack, must be scoured for any glint of controversy.
The political detective work under way in Mt. Pleasant--and into the backgrounds of Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites) of North Carolina, Rep. Richard Gephardt (news, bio, voting record) of Missouri and a handful of other prospects--has become the most closely guarded element of the presidential race.
The campaign is going to extraordinary lengths, complete with code names and decoys, to ensure Kerry can deliver a surprise when he discloses his choice sometime before the party's nominating convention in late July.
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