Speculation surrounding Senator Barack Obamas vice-presidential selection has often been set off by the comings and goings at a law firm on Pennsylvania Avenue here, where leading members of his vetting team are working.
The real vetting, though, is a labor born of shoe leather that has taken Democratic lawyers and researchers to a number of places across the country in a secretive quest to pore over each chapter in the lives of prospective running mates, all in the hunt for anything embarrassing, distracting or otherwise problematic.