Whatever you thought about last night’s debate, honest questions are percolating about Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and how much vetting John McCain’s campaign actually did before picking her.

Serious questions demand inquiry, including allegations Palin improperly used executive powers as Alaska governor to press for the firing of her sister’s ex-hubby. Concerns also focus on the rambling, nearly unintelligible answers she’s offered in interviews, betraying an apparent ignorance of some issues. Noted conservative columnist Kathleen Parker has even urged her to step aside to save the GOP ticket.

Central Texans already have a fair idea of what the vetting process involves — or ought to involve. U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards underwent at least as much scrutiny as Palin, probably a whole lot more, when Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama seriously considered the Waco congressman as his running mate.

That alone represents a point of pride for Edwards, if only because it says something about those who have consistently elected him since 1990.

“The TV pundits were totally dismissive of the idea a House member from Texas could ever be considered,” he said.

In the end, Edwards and other contenders on the short list were bypassed in favor of longtime U.S. Sen. Joe Biden. It likely didn’t help Edwards that, about the time he was through being vetted, another politically prominent Edwards — namely John — was under fire for marital infidelities and lying about it. Hostilities between Georgia and Russia — suddenly catapulting Biden into the spotlight through a high-profile trip to Georgia — likely finished Chet Edwards’ chances as Obama’s veep.

Consolation prize: The congressman says he feels he’s been scrubbed and scoured so intensely from weeks of scrutiny he’s as clean as the proverbial whistle. Which may come in handy if President Obama considers him for a Cabinet post, as some are betting.

The vetting process proved so meticulous that Obama’s staff picked through every speech Edwards ever made — extending back to his days in the Texas Legislature.

At one point, Edwards told the veep-vetting committee he found it humorous they wanted to see speeches he’d given 25 years ago because “I was just thrilled when someone remembered a speech of mine 25 minutes later.”

Obama’s team even went through credit card receipts, which caused Edwards’ blood pressure to spike, though not out of indignity.

“Congressman, can you explain this $30,000 credit card charge?” one vetter inquired.

“What?!” Edwards said.

Edwards didn’t realize it then, but his wife had charged the purchase of a mini-van on their credit card to get bonus points — a very middle-class sort of thing to do.

Reason for Edwards’ concern: “We probably have less than $50,000 of liquid assets.”

Even so, this sort of vetting — picking through tax records, old speeches, even musty editorials and articles from the Tribune-Herald — left Edwards on the short list of Democratic vice presidential prospects.

Obama’s team obviously believed Edwards was worth the effort. Supporters touted his appeal as a Southern moderate, his strength on defense and veterans issues and the sheer irony that his sprawling congressional district includes President Bush’s Crawford-area ranch. Republicans have longed to unseat him.

Most of all, Edwards offered 18 years of experience on Capitol Hill, much of it devoted to bipartisan endeavors, yet represented a new face to the nation, neatly fitting Obama’s call for change.

Even after Obama told him that he was choosing someone else, Edwards had the satisfaction of letting it dawn on the national news media — ever so slowly — that he had, indeed, been among the finalists.

The lawmaker even enjoyed good-natured ribbing about it from his Republican congressional opponent, Rob Curnock, when they ran into each other at the local Westfest.

“You know,” Curnock told Edwards, “I just want you to know — I was really pulling for you to get this!”

Bill Whitaker’s column appears Fridays. E-mail him at bwhitaker@wacotrib.com.