Politics

The Midterm Itch

By Joel Roberts

December 18, 2002 / 12:10 PM EST / CBS

The old saying "I'll be home for Christmas" is taking on new meaning in the nation's capital this year, and the already long list of departed – or soon-to-be departed – should only continue growing.

The midterm elections provide perfect cover for political departures, particularly from the White House; it's a good stopping point if things aren't working out – see Larry Lindsey and Paul O'Neill, the fall guys for the Bush administration's fears of being blamed in 2004 for the country's ailing economy. Both were shoved out the door in the kind of humiliating dismissals that could only take place in Washington. Here, unlike normal places, people sometimes get their walking papers in the paper: "Honey, look, the Redskins won … and I got fired."

Al Gore's bow-out from Campaign 2004, of course, was the political departure of the year. His surprise announcement on CBS News' 60 Minutes last Sunday ended – for now, at least – 24 years of public service. For Gore, the midterm elections signaled the effective start of Campaign 2004, forcing him to decide whether to fish or cut bait on a rematch against George W. Bush.

In the last two weeks, some other officials have left their posts voluntarily, either to start making money or keep making money, like Henry Kissinger and George Mitchell, who quit the Sept. 11 commission following demands that they disclose the names of their lucrative private sector clientele.

Nick Calio, the White House's lobbyist on Capitol Hill, announced Tuesday that he's returning to the private sector. With one daughter in college and two more to start soon, Calio was missing the big paychecks he'd been getting from the lobbying shop he started in 1993, O'Brien Calio, which had such star clients as Anheuser Busch, AT&T, Boeing Corp. and Merrill Lynch.

Others are stepping aside for purely political reasons. Some to prepare for future campaigns, like Dick Gephardt, who's leaving his post as House Democratic leader to concentrate on a possible 2004 White House run. And some because their political lives are coming to an end. Al Gore is a poster boy for this last sect of the departed, while the still-in-Limbo Trent Lott could follow in his wake.

Others feeling the midterm itch are merely prepping for Campaign 2004 by quitting their day jobs.

Two key Bush administration advisers – vice-presidential aide Mary Matalin and FEMA director Joe Allbaugh – recently announced plans to leave government work. Matalin, like departed presidential counselor Karen Hughes, is expected to continue as an informal White House counselor. Allbaugh, who'll leave FEMA on March 1, is expected to join Hughes and Matalin at the core of the Bush 2004 re-election team.

Some other potential departures being discussed around town include:

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, who's still trying to recover from his politically suicidal comments at Strom Thurmond's birthday party. Republican senators have a Jan. 6 meeting scheduled to figure out what to do with Lott, but with White House support for the Mississippi lawmaker close to zero, Lott could be leaving his leadership post sooner than that, if not leaving the Senate entirely.

White House budget office chief Mitch Daniels, who is considering a run for governor in his native Indiana. Daniels, who's had a bumpy relationship with some Democrats in Congress over the federal budget process, spoke to the Indiana Farm Bureau last weekend and sounded more like a gubernatorial candidate than OMB chief. He told reporters that he's "seriously thinking" about a gubernatorial bid.

EPA administrator Christie Todd Whitman, who is reportedly unhappy with some of the Bush administration's decisions on environmental matters, including a decision late last month to allow power plants wider latitude on pollutant emissions. She was widely expected to be the first Bush administration official to leave, but O'Neill and Lindsey, of course, beat her to the punch – unwillingly. Whitman has denied reports, so far, that she'd like to become a United States ambassador.

And the big Kahuna of them all – Vice President Dick Cheney. Speculation – some of it, admittedly, both wild and groundless – has the weak-hearted Cheney leaving under a variety of scenarios. People whose names are bandied about to take his place on the '04 ticket include Secretary of State Colin Powell, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist and North Carolina Sen.–elect Elizabeth Dole. Since vice presidents have historically done well succeeding their bosses, the GOP may want to set someone up who could lay a claim on the White House in years to come.

Of course, the Lott and Cheney Republican fantasy departures may be more in tune with the next line of "I'll Be Home for Christmas": … "if only in my dreams."

By Douglas Kiker