Investigative reporter Jane Mayer tells Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! how the McCain campaign picked Sarah Palin. It’s a fascinating story that involves Joe Lieberman, Lindsay Graham, the Republican base, the National Review, cruises to Alaska, halibut cheeks, a home schooled Christian conservative blogger, and much more.

Mayer is a staff writer at the New Yorker and the author of The Dark Side, an FDL book salon selection for August.

(Illustration by Llyn Hunter of Bobcat Publishing.)