THE PLANK JULY 30, 2009
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Scott Horton of Harper's pens a long lament that, when it comes to awarding ambassadorships to campaign donors, Obama is worse than Bush:
Under Barack Obama, the process of political payoff through
ambassadorial appointments has matched and appears poised to exceed the
already extremely abusive system that Karl Rove put in place under the
Bush Administration. In his first six months, Obama has forwarded 58
ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation. Retired career
diplomat Dennis Jett reports in the Daily Beast that 32 of these nominees—55% of the total—are political appointees.
Horton makes special mention of, among others, Lou Susman and Don Beyer, Obama's ambassadors to Great Britain and Switzerland, respectively. It's certainly true that both men raised big money for Obama and I have no doubt their buckraking abilities were a (maybe the) major reason they were given these plum diplomatic assignments, but I think both men brought something else to the table besides their fundraising skills.
In Susman's case, there's sentiment. In the Obama creation myth--or at least one version of it, as there many competing creation myths out there--Susman plays a major role. As an advisor to John Kerry told me when I did this Kerry profile last year, the road to Obama delivering his career-making keynote address to the Democratic convention began when Susman, a Chicago banker and the finance chair for Kerry's '04 presidential campaign, introduced Obama to Kerry at a Chicago campaign event. The advisor recalled: "Obama spoke and Lou said something like, 'That guy's got a big future in politics.' And Kerry said something like, 'We should find something for him to have a bigger role.' It wasn't necessarily the keynote, but he was thinking about the convention and the campaign." So, if you're Obama and you're looking for an Ambassador to the Court of St. James--which, traditionally, has gone to a fundraiser--Susman would bring more to the table than just the fact that he raised cash for you.
As for Beyer, whom Horton describes as "a car dealer from Northern Virginia," it is worth pointing out that, in addition to his car dealerships, he was Virginia's lieutenant governor for two terms and campaigned for Obama in the Commonwealth. Does that him an expert on Switzerland? No. But he's got more going for him than just some successful car dealerships. In other words, it's not like Cal Nothington is going to be our man in Bern.
P.S. I think Horton would have strengthened his case if he'd mentioned Obama tapping John Roos over Joseph Nye as his ambassador to Japan. That's a job that has traditionally gone to non-fundraisers, but Obama went with a buckraker.
--Jason Zengerle
6 comments
Also, Don Beyer was once the Democratic nominee for governor of Virginia. The Beyer dealerships are themselves the material backbone of Democratic party infrastructure in NoVA. Beyer can take more credit than any other individual, Mark Warner included, in solidifying Democratic dominance of the Northern Virginia suburbs and in turning the state blue in this decade. That's a lot more than just being a buckraker.
- rhubarbs
July 30, 2009 at 1:05pm
I am also not a fan of this, but here is a semi-defense of Phil Murhpy to Berlin.
Here is the complaint:
"Another is Phil Murphy, a Goldman Sachs executive who served as the Democratic Party’s national finance chairman, tapped to represent the United States in Berlin. The Murphy appointment so troubled German leaders that they held up agrément–the diplomatic process under which the receiving nation agrees to accept the ambassadorial designee–so that Chancellor Angela Merkel could press the case for a career diplomat or serious political figure. Merkel made her appeal at the G-8 meeting at L’Aquila, but Obama was unswayed. The Germans finally relented and grudgingly accepted the appointment."
The guy worked for Goldman for several years in Frankfurt--which isn't a terrible preparation for an amabassador--and seems to speak German. This means Obama's pick already looks better than either of Bush's picks. He's also involved with US soccer, which also can't hurt.
- dabeffert
July 30, 2009 at 1:18pm
I think people are too cynical towards fundraiser ambassadorships in general. Fundraisers have already proven that they're smart and committed workers for their candidate, and they have experience selling him to big shots at dinner parties. It's sort of like being an ambassador to rich people. Why not take advantage of those proven abilities?
- Simon Greenwood
July 30, 2009 at 2:40pm
dabeffert, how can someone seem to speak German, what, does he speak and some kind of germanic guttaral comes out?
Actually, I know what you mean but I just love that turn of phrase. When many Americans learn Chinese they seem to be speaking Chinese but to the Chinese it often sounds like gibberish. Of course, one problem is many Chinese do not make the effort to try to understand, whereas Americans are used to accents.
- blackton
July 31, 2009 at 10:05am
blackton:
What I should have said is that I think I read that he speaks German, but I'm not really sure what that means. Does that mean he can order off a menu and have a simple conversation or can he really speak German.
- dabeffert
July 31, 2009 at 2:37pm
I have no problem with Obama on this front. He stands in a long line of presidents who pay political debts with ambassadorships. If he has shown anything in his young presidency it is that he knows how to pay off political debts. Can we send some labor bosses and trial lawyers to far off places?
How about Andy Stern to Uzbekistan? Gettllefinger to Venezuela? The plaintiffs' multimillionaire of your choice to Zimbabwe?
- lsernoff
July 31, 2009 at 8:05pm