Today’s story, adapted from the book by Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson, says:
Eventually, McCain narrowed his choices to six finalists. In addition to Sarah Palin, they were independent-Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman; McCain’s former rival, Mitt Romney; Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty; New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal have been a finalist had he not taken himself out of contention.
From that list of six, McCain and his team seemed to winnow the list to three: Lieberman, McCain’s favorite; Pawlenty, the safety choice; and Palin, a “high-risk, high-reward” option. The rest is history.