Scott McClellan, on Karen Hughes' nomination (Undersecretary of State)

The QUESTION sounds like it came from a Gannon / Guckert...ESPECIALLY in its tone of "urgency"..."WE NEED TO REPAIR OUR RELATIONS WITH THE WORLD"...and I'm sure ALL DUers will agree, the most expedient way to do that is to SEND IN KAREN EFFING HUGHES.

:sarcasm:



http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050420-3.html#3

Q Does Karen Hughes have to be confirmed?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

Q Why hasn't her nomination been sent up, since, obviously, we need to repair our relations with the rest of the world --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we've got a lot of good people that are working on our public diplomacy right now. It's not something that has just started; we've been taking steps already prior to that --

Q -- nomination --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think she's indicated, and we indicated previously, that she would be starting later this summer.

Q Why?

MR. McCLELLAN: Dina Powell is going to be probably starting sooner than that -- well, she's in the position. I mean, she's already starting to focus on it and begin work. But we will be sending her nomination up at the appropriate time and look forward to the Senate moving forward on that nomination.



http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0316/p03s01-usfp.html

Can Karen Hughes help US image abroad?

Bush has nominated a trusted message maven as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy.

By Linda Feldmann, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON – Karen Hughes's new Washington assignment - to improve America's image abroad - may be the ultimate test of loyalty to a president who seems to value that trait almost above all else.

Reaction around town to Ms. Hughes's nomination as undersecretary of State for public diplomacy centered on one theme: its improbability. Hughes, after all, has been President Bush's closest confidante and communications guru since his days as Texas governor - but focused largely on domestic issues. If Karl Rove, the other pillar of Bush's political brain trust, aims more at promoting a conservative agenda, Hughes is the one known for nudging the president back toward the center, by promoting such themes as "compassionate conservatism."

The White House sought in its Monday announcement to highlight Hughes's foreign experience, such as accompanying Bush on foreign trips and working to promote women's rights in Afghanistan, but no one is pretending that foreign affairs is her forte. And two years after a US- dominated coalition invaded Iraq, hurting America's image throughout much of the world, Hughes will face a tougher audience than any in Texas or the bluest of blue Democratic states.

Her two predecessors in the post - advertising executive Charlotte Beers and Margaret Tutwiler, a onetime aide to former Secretary of State James Baker - both left with limited records of accomplishment. But, analysts say, don't count out Hughes before she begins, particularly as recent elections in Iraq and the Palestinian territories have given Bush's vision for Middle Eastern democracy a boost. "It's possible that Karen Hughes can succeed where the others failed," says David Rothkopf, a veteran of Clinton administration foreign policy.

This administration has no shame.

TC

"Mrs. Hughes, what are your qualifications for this position, other than your close friendship with the man who has nominated you?"