The Note

W A S H I N G T O N May 22— -- It's nice to see that even in the anti-elitist Bush Administration, a nice boy from St. Albans can achieve success.

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NEWS SUMMARY

On the heels of Mike Allen's clean-kill scoop in the Washington Post LINK, the president plans to announce today that ultra-talented Josh Bolten will move from his essential spot as deputy chief of staff to the even-more-essential job running the Office of Management and Budget.

Now, in most administrations, the personnel IS the policy.

The discipline and organizational principles of Bush-Cheney, however, mean that the top dogs set the agenda, and the loyal foot soldiers down below simply carry out the orders.

The Clinton people hate it when we write this, but the administration of 43 simply has more loyal deputies who focus pretty much exclusively on carrying out the president's agenda (and not on getting their names in the paper) than any in recent memory.

Even most Note readers have never heard of Josh Bolten, and (we are guessing, but guessing with confidence) that less than 25% of the Gang of 500 could pick him out of a lineup.

And yet he has wielded enormous influence in the Bush campaign, and in the White House, and on Capitol Hill. If you took the ratio of influence to lack of public credit, Bolten would probably be the all-time leader (and, yes, Capricia, we tallied up your score to make certain).

(Here's the Bolten bio and a picture, for those of you who think you might have once sat one table away from him at the Oval Room: LINK.

The president added two events to his schedule for this morning: a quick trip to the Hill for a Big Casino (albeit itty-bitty) victory lap, and a White House appearance to lay hands on Bolten.

With the announced departures of Whitman and Fleischer; with more executive branch departures expected in what we hereby christen the "Fleischer Window" (between war and re-elect); and with more Bush-Cheney '04 personnel announcements coming any minute now — watch who stays and who goes, and where those who stay end up.

The Washington Post 's Mike Allen somehow couldn't get on the front-page with his (admittedly hedged) news that Bolten is expected to be named budget director, replacing the departing Mitch Daniels.

Allen describes both the man and the "major shift in style":

"Bolten, a silver-haired former Goldman Sachs executive, is soft-spoken and intensely private. His appointment as director of the Office of Management and Budget will bring a major shift in style to the job and appears to be an effort to improve White House relations with lawmakers, many of whom were rankled by the blunt, aggressive style of Daniels."

Allen anticipates the upcoming challenges Bolten will face from the projected deficits and spending cuts, and those the White House will face in replacing him as one of Andy Card's two deputies.

Allen includes a bunch of facts about Bolten (who impressed the White House with "quiet competence" on a number of wide-ranging assignments) such as his age (48); his education (St. Albans, Princeton, Stanford Law--and editor of the law review); his resume (legislative affairs director for 41, campaign policy director for 43, international trade counsel to the Senate Finance Committee, working at the law firm O'Melveny & Myers); his father (a CIA officer); his niece (she draws); his friends (Bo Derek); his favored transportation (a Harley-Davidson); and his stress relief (bowling).

Allen also Notes:

"Bush rearranged his schedule so he could appear with Bolten today before heading to his ranch in Crawford, Tex., for a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, officials said. Bush aides, always cautious, said the decision would not be final until Bush announced it."

As for the other big personnel move, with major electoral implications:

The Washington Post team Eric Pianin and Guy Gugliotta address Christie Whitman's resignation, presenting a relieved Whitman and a "largely unfinished [environmental] agenda."LINKPianin and Gugliotta also suggest the EPA was never a good fit for Cabinet post-seeking Whitman, Note the pre-re-elect Fleischer-like timing, and float some replacement names (John Engler, for one).

And they were also on hand to observe Whitman's curious spin:

"Meeting with a small group of reporters in her office yesterday, a visibly relaxed and buoyant Whitman insisted that she had 'always been on the same page' with Bush and 'never felt humiliated,' even after the president in 2001 contradicted her public statements by disavowing a global warming treaty that the United States had already signed, and reneged on a campaign pledge to cut carbon dioxide emissions."

In addition, they offer a host of details and quotes, some of which might offer a small bit of comfort, others of which might prompt Whitman to reconsider feelings of humiliation.

The Boston Globe 's Robert Schlesinger writes "[t]he confirmation hearings for Whitman's replacement will become the focus of a broad debate over the administration's environmental policies, activists on each side of the issue predicted." LINK

The USA Today reports that "Bush hasn't chosen a successor, aides say. Speculation centers on former Michigan governor John Engler, Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, Florida Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs and James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality." LINK

The Los Angeles Times' Gerstenzang hints that more senior officials may follow: "With the Bush administration increasingly focusing on the president's reelection campaign, senior members are assessing whether to remain on board during the year-and-a-half campaign period." LINK

Roll Call 's Mark Weston wisely looks at how the nomination process for Ms. Whitman's replacement will play into the 2004 Invisible Primary and perhaps even have some ramifications for 2008:

"Leaders in the environmental community, in particular, will be watching closely to see what role the four Democratic Senators seeking their party's presidential nomination play in the confirmation process. The quartet, Sens. John Edwards (N.C.), Bob Graham (Fla.), John Kerry (Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (Conn.), are eager to burnish their environmental credentials, and all hope to draw the green vote in the 2004 primaries. Graham and Lieberman sit on the Environment and Public Works Committee — the panel charged with vetting the eventual nominee — giving them the first crack at questioning Bush's pick. Edwards and Kerry are expected to be equally vocal about Bush's environmental record during the nomination proceedings."

"Democrats were careful Wednesday not to utter the word filibuster — a tactic they have successfully employed this year to block two of Bush's judicial nominees — but made it clear it is an option."

Graham and Lieberman were both careful not to say they would block Bush's choice to head the EPA, but Noted in separate interviews they will vigorously question the nominee.

There's very little public Invisible Primary activity today.

Note to subscribers: We'll be Googling elsewhere on Monday, so after tomorrow's Note, look for our next edition Tuesday.

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Big Casino budget politics:

After a day of confusion, America's leading news organizations all cast the Big Casino action of the last 24 hours pretty much the same way:

1. A "win-is-a-win-is-a-win" win for the president.

2. Vice President Cheney had to bash some heads together to make this happen.

3. Senator Voinovich played a starring role.

4. Congressman Thomas did some room-storming (again).

5. The deal isn't quite done, but it will be.

6. This package darn well better stimulate the economy.

7. No one, not even the president, got everything he/she wanted, but that's what compromise, even with one-party control, is all about.

Typical journalistic specimens: LINK and LINK

The Washington Post 's Jonathan Weisman covers the tentative $350 billion tax cut plan, writing "[t]he deal marks a significant retreat for Bush, who has insisted on the elimination of all taxes on dividends paid out of fully taxed corporate earnings. Last month, he dismissed a $350 billion tax cut as a 'little bitty' measure, and said 'at least $550 billion' in cuts were essential to rev up the economy and create the 1 million jobs he has often set as a goal." LINK

The Boston Globe 's Susan Milligan quotes the president, speaking at last night's megamillion fundraiser:

"'See, we understand this, the money we talk about in Washington, D.C., is not the government's money. The money we talk about in Washington, D.C., is the people's money,' Bush told supporters at a fund-raiser last night after the pending deal was announced." LINK

"Congressional leaders were working out their differences, he said, adding, 'I'm confident they'll be able to do so and get a package to my desk that I can sign into law."'

Bob Novak practically gushes (ok: he DOES gush) over POTUS' taking the House noggin in one hand, and the Senate noggin in the other, and bashing them together to get the deal done. LINK

Novak's tick-tock of the negotiated budget understanding is a must-read, concluding above all that President Bush wields enormous bargaining power, even as Congressional leaders chafe under White House control and try to resist.

"House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas were in no mood for compromise as they prepared for Monday's 5:30 p.m. meeting with Bush. Furthermore, they were backed by House Speaker Dennis Hastert."

The Wall Street Journal ed board feels pretty much the same as most White House officials do about Chairman Thomas, but the Journal has the courage to write it up as its lead editorial.

ABC 2004: Bush-Cheney re-elect:

The Washington Post 's Mike Allen watched last night's kick-off of President Bush's monumental fundraising campaign at the Washington Convention Center, as the CREEP aims for speed and a leadership image, as well as an unprecedented war chest. LINK

Allen kicks off his own piece with these invigorating paragraphs:

"President Bush embarked last night on a packed schedule of fundraising events designed to showcase him as commander in chief even as he builds a record-breaking financial advantage over his future Democratic opponent."

"Bush's goal is to collect about twice as much as he did for his last race. Campaign sources said his fundraising strategy is built for speed so he can finish most of the events and return to full-time governing just as the Democratic nominating contest is peaking."

Allen maps out the upcoming series of $2,000-per-ticket big city events, Notes Dick Cheney's own planned fundraising blitz, and cites the White House intention to "to build [Bush's] treasury by making frank use of the White House's unique advantages," with the much discussed Rove luncheons and Bush photo-ops going for tens of thousands, to an apparently eager audience.