Appointees find a home
Bush’s Cabinet hopefuls look to be approved after hearings despite election 2000 saga, bitter attitudes

Since the Florida recount saga ended and the George W. Bush transition team saga began, political pundits from Capitol Hill to Timbuktu have spent the weeks leading up to Saturday’s inauguration analyzing, debating and arguing over whether Bush’s Cabinet hopefuls are loyal enough and squeaky-clean enough to survive a 50-50 Senate filled with democratic senators with long memories and bitter attitudes.

With the bizarre 2000 election still fresh in the minds of many Americans and still stinging the hearts of those who invested millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours supporting the other side, the selection and appointment of this first Cabinet is perhaps as critical to the president-elect as the Supreme Court decision that made his administration official.

Although Bush and his advisers had a list of possible appointees in mind months before the Nov. 7 election, the election itself changed the names and faces on his team dramatically. I suspect Colin Powell still headed his “Dream Team.” A Newsweek poll taken during the presidential primary indicated Americans would have picked him hands down for commander in chief. I would call him a slam dunk for secretary of state.

Powell is not only the first African-American in our country’s history to be nominated for a key Cabinet position, but he is as close to a political god as they come. All 100 senators know that not supporting his appointment would be the equivalent of committing political suicide.

The first real challenge for our former governor was deciding who would join Powell in the conference room next to the Oval Office. The election results left the Republican Party with a narrow lead in the House, so he couldn’t afford to lose precious votes by stealing state representatives to work for his administration. He couldn’t choose any senators who won or retained their seats either because for the first time in history the Senate is evenly split.

Appointing republican senators would change things for his second in command, Dick Cheney, who may turn out to be the most powerful man in Washington. Cheney would have to give up his new job as professional tie-breaker to fill the traditional role of the vice president — cutting ribbons, making speeches that Bush doesn’t have time for and silently standing by in support of the man who calls the shots and gets to make the cool TV appearances.

Instead, Bush looked to the private sector, past administrations and governors for his Cabinet choices. Although Bush and his transition team have worked hard to diversify the Cabinet, they only attracted one democrat.

Washington insiders blame the close election for this imbalance, saying that because Bush didn’t win the popular vote, working for his administration could be a career killer for any member of the Democratic Party.

According to political analysts, even some republicans who were originally talked about for various positions were shy to accept because they didn’t want to involve themselves in what some are calling the worst political fray to hit the nation’s Capital.

The 15 men and women who are now awaiting their appointment hearings have taken a beating with the public and the press, but if history holds true most of them will be accepted.

Despite the fact that as soon as their names became public, journalists, analysts and avid C-SPAN watchers began whispering about the skeletons in the closet of each nominee, all but one member of this elite group should soon be decorating their offices and designing their official Web sites.

In this administration, John Ashcroft is facing the most real concern about his appointment. Traditionally the only two positions whose appointees face serious opposition are the Department of Interior and the Attorney General. Serious and vocal criticism from civil rights activists will force the Senate to examine whether these chinks in his armor are weighty enough to suggest he may not be able to lead the Justice Department without his personal views impacting the fairness of the decisions he will make.

As both the new administration and the new Senate prepare to embark on an appointment process that could either unite or further divide the country, it will be interesting to see if the historically well-ordered and dignified process turns ugly or if it will be the best show of bipartisan actions in the century.

News Editor Jaime Walker is a junior news-editorial journalism major Roswell, Ga.
She can be reached at (j.l.walker@student.tcu.edu)

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