Say Anything Blog

Fred Barnes thinks some things need to change within the Bush administration:

It's time for President Bush to think about a third term. No, he doesn't need to overturn the Constitution. He can start the equivalent of his third term now, by filling his presidential staff and cabinet with new faces--or old faces in new positions--and by concentrating on new or forgotten initiatives. The goal: rejuvenation of his presidency by shocking the media and political community with a sweeping overhaul of his administration. The impact would be enormous because it's exactly what his foes have been demanding and exactly what he is not expected to do. And it would give him a chance to escape the political doldrums that may otherwise doom his presidency through its final 34 months.

I think he's exactly right. This is something I've talked about before here on Say Anything. President Bush has essentially the same team that he put in place after being sworn into office in 2001 working with him today. Some of these people, like Chief of Staff Andrew Card, are working in positions that normally see turnover every two or three years in other administrations. Given the Bush administration's frustratingly lackluster performance of late some change doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

Here is Barnes' ideas for what should happen:

Mr. Bush's first task must be to jettison his admirable but unrealistic sense of loyalty. Unlike other presidents, he reciprocates the loyalty of his aides. But for the good of his presidency, he must let some of them go, regardless of whether they deserve firing.

The president's most spectacular move would be to anoint a presidential successor. This would require Vice President Cheney to resign. His replacement? Condoleezza Rice, whom Mr. Bush regards highly. Her replacement? Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, whose Bush-like views on Iraq and the war on terror have made him a pariah in the Democratic caucus.

Mr. Cheney would probably be happy to step down and return to Wyoming. But it would make more sense for him to move to the Pentagon to replace Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary, a job Mr. Cheney held during the elder Bush's administration. The Senate confirmation hearing for Mr. Cheney alone would produce political fireworks and attract incredible attention. At Treasury, Mr. Bush has a perfect replacement for John Snow, someone he already knows. That's Glenn Hubbard, former chairman of Mr. Bush's council of economic advisers and currently dean of Columbia's business school. He is in sync with Mr. Bush ideologically and has the added value of being respected on Wall Street.

With these changes, Mr. Bush would have brought in new Cabinet chiefs at three of the big four agencies. Only Justice would be untouched, but it might be too much for the president to force his friend Alberto Gonzales out as attorney general.

At the White House, highly visible changes would be required, starting with the most visible post of all besides the presidency--press secretary. Dan Senor, a Republican and former spokesman for Paul Bremer in Iraq, would be a perfect successor to Scott McClellan. He would be an articulate and forceful defender of Mr. Bush on Iraq. And if not Mr. Senor, then presidential counselor Dan Bartlett, who always does well in TV interviews.

As a new chief of staff, Mr. Bush's pal from his Harvard Business School days, Al Hubbard, could replace Andy Card. Mr. Hubbard is miscast as top White House economic adviser. To replace him, Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute would fit. He has close ties to the Bush White House. There's also a natural choice for national security adviser to replace Stephen Hadley. It's Zalmay Khalilzad, the tough-minded ambassador to Iraq. Once a permanent government is installed there, he could be summoned home.

The trickiest issue is how to handle Karl Rove, the deputy White House chief of staff and political adviser. He is the closest thing to indispensable--on policy as well as politics--at the White House. But any overhaul that didn't involve him would run the risk of not being taken seriously. The solution is to send Mr. Rove to the Republican National Committee as chairman and bring the current chairman, Ken Mehlman, back to the president's staff as communications chief. The president lauded Mr. Rove as "the architect" of his re-election in 2004. Now he could be the architect of a Republican comeback in 2006. Mr. Mehlman would sharpen the president's communication operation. He and Mr. Rove would work together, as they do now.

I honestly don't see a move here I don't like. I am especially enamored with the idea of Condoleezza Rice as the VP and Lieberman as Secretary of State. Condi has remained a very popular figure among Americans (even as Bush's popularity has dwindled) and moving her to VP would put her in place for a run at the White House herself in 2008, which is something I'd very much be in favor of.

Moving Lieberman to Secretary of State would give Bush some bi-partisan credentials, which could also serve to marginalize the "Howard Dean" wing of the Democrat party. Lieberman is no Republican (though his enemies in his own party try to paint him that way) but he is an eminently reasonable man who is capable of being a voice of dissent against the President without needing to demonize him as some sort of anti-Christ.

I hope the President takes these suggestions from Barnes to heart and acts on them.

(via reader Bat One)