Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Will Tony Snow Replace McLellan?



(image via theadvocates)

Major buzz is surrounding Fox News' intolerably bland talking head Tony Snow -- watching plants produce oxygen is more exciting than watching this dude -- as a possible replacement for outgoing White House Press Spokesman Scott Mclellan. Josh Bolten is cleaning house, yo. What is most interesting is that McLellan himself described the rumors of the winds-of-change as "inside the beltway babble," and the Vice President recently did "Face the Nation" eschewing the notion entirely. (Averted Gaze) And, interestingly, the once all powerful Karl Rove is giving up oversight of policy development. Hmm. Looks like Bush, who in 2000 was a ferocious critic of Clintonian Governance-by-the-Polls is starting to resemble his former nemesis. And that's not a bad thing -- when not done to excess -- as we do live in a Democracy, despite the efforts of our neo-Federalist Vice President. (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment) Says Foxnews:

"The White House discussed the possibility with Snow as recently as this week.

"Snow, who hosts 'The Tony Snow Show,' once served as a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush.

"Other people have also been approached about the position, including former Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clark and Dan Senor, the former Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman in Iraq, who served the U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer.

"McClellan, who has been press secretary for two years, refuses to speculate about his own future. But he has acknowledged that he has held the job for 'a long time.'"

It would be intriguing to know if Snow gets the job despite his pessimism that the white hot issue of immigration lacks political traction. The big question, though, is who will be the "elder staesman" type Congressional liaison? That will be an incredibly important position considering the near lame duck condition of the President among Congressional Republicans. And can you blame them? The President is at an historical low in popularity while they hav e to run for re-election in 2006. Here are some of our picks for the "Congressional Ambassador":

The Machiavellian Former Secretary of State James Baker: 11-1
Respected former Minnestota Congressman Vin Weber Odds: 10-1
Well-liked Law and Order actor, former North Carolina Senator Fred Thompson: EVEN MONEY
Folksy supply sider and former Senator Phil Gramm: 8-1

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