Bush quietly retooling the White House. Dear Friends:
It seems that Bush is quietly retooling his White House staff in
preparation for the upcoming reelection battle. He's looking for young
Republican loyalists, those who are still innocents in the political
process, and who still believe in The Great Cause. "He keeps promoting
people up from the farm club to jobs that once were reserved for giants,"
said professor of public service Paul C. Light, a specialist in
bureaucracy. "That means a relatively green team, but one that will take
direction from the coach. It could be interpreted as a sign of
extraordinary hubris."
________________________
Washington Post
May 29, 2003
Bush Fills Key Slots With Young Loyalists
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
President Bush is quietly retooling the White House staff for his
reelection campaign by promoting a group of young loyalists to key
positions, further concentrating power with the handful of veteran advisers
closest to him.
Bush's inner circle, many with ties going back to his Texas days, has
stayed largely in place. But there has been substantial turnover in the
past few months in the next tier, including the nomination last week of
deputy chief of staff Joshua B. Bolten as budget director. Bolten is
trusted by Bush but is largely unknown outside the White House.
Similar changes have been made in the legislative affairs, personnel and
vice president's offices, and will be made soon in the press office. Bush's
reelection campaign will be staffed by young aides who take their cues from
officials in the West Wing, according to people planning the campaign.
"He keeps promoting people up from the farm club to jobs that once were
reserved for giants," said Paul C. Light, a specialist in bureaucracy who
is a New York University professor of public service. "That means a
relatively green team, but one that will take direction from the coach. It
could be interpreted as a sign of extraordinary hubris."
Aides said Bush's preference for promoting from within gives him a
hardworking, committed team beholden only to him, without their own
agendas. But other people close to Bush used the term "echo chamber" as
they described their worry that a culture so driven by "loyalty for
loyalty's sake" could produce a White House that was deaf to brewing
political or governing crises.
The moves have increased the authority of a few favored White House aides,
including senior adviser Karl Rove, as less experienced officials assume
the new jobs, current and former administration officials said. "These new
folks are going to pull their punches at first," said a veteran of White
House meetings. "They don't have the gravitas."
White House officials said they agree that is a potential result, but said
it was not intentional. A senior administration official involved in hiring
said there was "no design to consolidate decision making" and that aides
cast a wide net in looking for staff. But the official said replacements
were frequently found inside because of their ability to interact with the
president and proven performance under pressure. The promotions also help
with morale down to the lower levels, the official said.
Press secretary Ari Fleischer said the advice Bush gets is "blunt and
realistic." He added, "People don't make it into the inner circle if
they're sycophants."
Several administration officials said Rove, 52, now faces even fewer
internal checks on his politically aggressive style. White House
communications director Dan Bartlett, a former employee of Rove, has also
accumulated power with each departure, according to colleagues. Bartlett,
31, is so admired by some Republicans for his political savvy that some see
him as a future Texas governor. "Some of these people will grow into their
jobs, and some of them won't," an outside White House adviser said. "Where
they don't, Karl and Dan's influence will swell."
Bolten's nomination last week was one signal of Bush's approach. Bolten
will replace Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., a favorite of GOP conservatives who
is returning to Indiana to run for governor. A colleague said Bolten,
policy director of Bush's first campaign, has moderate instincts but "never
makes an issue of it," having devoted himself to the Bush agenda.
By contrast, President Bill Clinton's second budget director was Alice M.
Rivlin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office who was
well-known on Capitol Hill.
One of the leading prospects to succeed Bolten is another insider, Jay
Lefkowitz, a domestic policy expert who was director of Cabinet affairs in
the administration of President George H.W. Bush. Lefkowitz has steadily
risen as he gained favor with the president, especially after he helped
steer Bush through a politically perilous decision to allow federal funding
for research on stem cells from a limited number of human embryos.
In January, Bush appointed Dina Habib Powell, 29, a former Republican
National Committee lobbyist and Capitol Hill aide, as director of
presidential personnel. She succeeded Clay Johnson III, who was Bush's
executive assistant in the Texas governor's office and has been his close
friend for 40 years, since their prep school days at Phillips Academy at
Andover, Mass. Johnson was nominated to be deputy director for management
at the Office of Management and Budget and awaits confirmation.
Fleischer, who plans to leave for the private sector in July, had the
standing and personality to fight with Bush's closest aides over access for
himself and the media. He often lost, but sometimes he won. He is likely to
be replaced by his deputy, Scott McClellan, who worked for Bush in the
Texas governor's office and lacks Fleischer's tartness. Colleagues say
Bush's comfort with McClellan may enhance his stature.
Bush's first Capitol Hill lobbyist, Nicholas E. Calio, who smoked cigars
with lawmakers, was replaced in December by David W. Hobbs, a quiet expert
on legislative procedure.
Mary Matalin, who was counselor to Vice President Cheney, left the
government in January but remains a close adviser. Her public affairs
responsibilities were assumed by Catherine J. Martin, 34.
The campaign manager is Kenneth Mehlman, 36, who was close to Rove as White
House director of political affairs. The White House announced Friday that
Mehlman will be succeeded by his deputy, Matt Schlapp, 35. Like Mehlman,
Schlapp worked on the staff of Bush's last campaign.
The communications director for the reelection campaign is slated to be
Nicolle Devenish, 31, who as White House director of media affairs has the
unheralded but politically sensitive job of managing relations with local
news organizations and national radio shows.
Advisers to Bush pointed out that he had a promote-from-within policy when
he was Texas governor and took a similar approach in his first race, when
he shunned advice from most Washington-based Republicans and instead relied
on the ideas bubbling out of his campaign headquarters in Austin.
Another reason for the pattern, they said, is that Rove, Cheney, White
House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and national security adviser
Condoleezza Rice have such vast and varied experience that there is little
room -- or need -- for other big names.
People close to Bush said his aides have taken steps to make sure they are
not too insulated from the outside political world. Rove makes constant
calls to contacts who are allied with specific constituencies. Cheney and
his wife, Lynne, hold "idea dinners" at the vice president's residence
where international experts conduct graduate school-style seminars.
Bartlett recently held a brainstorming session with top political and
corporate communications veterans.
A lobbyist said the White House responds to the danger of isolation "not by
hiring people from the outside, but by having a vast network on the outside
and being very sensitive to what they're saying."
Republican sources said Ed Gillespie, 41, a communications strategist in
Bush's last campaign, will be named soon as chairman of the Republican
National Committee. Gillespie will be a full-time chairman but will not
have to sever ties to his lobbying business. Rove pushed for Gillespie,
keeping one more job in the family.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
________________________________
In peace,
Otoño
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Very informed and interesting comments!
Posted by: Jaden | June 30, 2004 at 10:28 AM