I looked, but I have not seen this diaried here, so here goes. Greg Mitchell at Editor & Publisher reported that the Alaskan Democrats did opposition research on Sarah Palin two years ago:
The oppo-research, compiled in a 62-page document with countless summaries or direct quotes, largely from local newspapers, covers all of the important issues you would expect to see, from her views on abortion and abstinence to tangled oil pipeline questions.
More and a link to the document after this brief message...
Wow, so now you are asking where is this wonderful PDF and how can I get a copy of it and be more in-the-know that the McCain camp? Well, E&P continues that:
Politico.com obtained a copy and printed merely a handful of the hundreds of findings on Tuesday. These included serious matters such as her use of the mayor's office in political campaigns. But it also posted a PDF of the entire document which few have probably examined. Here some of the more outrageous, or surprising, revelations -- strictly from newspaper clips. They are posted here under their heading in the document. Note: The Frontiersman is the local paper in Wasilla.
So yes, it gets better and better. In their story Documents detail Palin's political life Ben Smith & John Bresnahan at Politico reveal that Democrat Tony Knowles, Sarah Palin's opponent in the 2006 Alaska gubernatorial race:
put together a detailed, 63-page research document — obtained by Politico — cataloging Palin's strengths and weaknesses. And the Obama campaign, in particular, knows Palin well: A key Obama consultant, Anita Dunn, worked on Knowles' campaign.
"We're running against John McCain — the issues raised around his decision and the fact that he clearly bowed under to the right wing of his party and let them exercise veto power over his vice presidential pick," Dunn said, suggesting the Obama campaign wouldn't be recycling the 2006 Democratic criticism of Palin.
It is amazing reading and E&P and Politico both list a number of juicy tid-bits in their stories, but I suggest that you go read the document for yourself:
2006 Democratic research document on Sarah Palin
My theory (OK it's not mine, it's my wife's, and she's a Republican to boot) is that the top McCain people knew all about Sarah Palin and that they are throwing the election and are blaming the media and the Democrats. The coming economic troubles are so bad that whoever is President will, rightly of wrongly, get all of the blame for the blame for the mess. The first year for whoever is president will be like the last year of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton rolled up into one. So what do you think?