Posted on 03/25/2009 12:03:14 PM PDT by vadum
Once improbably hailed as a rising star in the Democratic Party, Gary Locke is deadly dull.
The narcolepsy-inducing Locke was confirmed by the Senate Tuesday.
The fact the former governor of Washington is boring might be the reason Obama selected him as a third choice to be his commerce secretary.
[...]
Boring but competent became politically attractive after two spectacular cabinet-level flameouts.
First, the colorful Democratic governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, had to pull out as nominee because of an embarrassing probe into the awarding of his state's contracts.
Next conservative Sen. Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, who initially was willing to play along, decided he couldn't in good conscience help an ultra-liberal president bankrupt America. Gregg was also alarmed at the White House plan to arrogate to itself control over the decennial Census, which would have had huge ramifications for congressional redistricting. After lawmakers such as Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) denounced the plan as a "naked political power grab," the Obama administration had to assure lawmakers the Census would remain at Commerce.
[...]
Past scandals don't seem to have hurt Locke's image on Capitol Hill.
The New York Times reported that Locke, now an attorney specializing in China-related matters for international law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, came to the post with "a largely scandal-free résumé." That's not exactly true.
Writer Michelle Malkin, who used to cover Locke when she worked for the Seattle Times, says Locke was evasive when confronted about his ties to Clinton-era campaign finance criminal John Huang, a former Democratic fund-raiser and suspected communist Chinese government agent who worked for the Commerce Department. Huang raised a reported $3.4 million for the Democratic National Committee, including from illegal donors overseas. He was convicted of a felony conspiracy charge of breaking campaign finance laws.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Ugh. Did it again. Meant to list the source as the American Spectator, not American Specator. Whoops.
Are the aquarium fish being fed at Commerce? That’s all the Commerce Secretary needs to do these days.
Dust off the TV. What COMMERCE??? Mexian trade war commerce???
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