The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

p> NAME GAMES br> As expected, President Bush's seeming failure to anoint Gov. Tom Ridge as his Secretary of Homeland Security has opened the door to the floating of other names for the job, among them, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Richard Armitage of the State Department. Privately several congressmen have pushed the nomination of current Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld . None of these men is jockeying for the job, in part, White House insiders say, because it seems so clear that Ridge is the man. /p>

"When the president traveled the country this week, it was Ridge who was out there with him, touting the program and the department," says a White House political operative. "The president isn't going to be rushed into a decision, but it's pretty clear to a lot of people that Ridge is the man barring a major screwup on his part."

Apparently, though, even Ridge isn't so sure about his standing. Another White House staffer says there was grumbling out of Ridge's office that Bush wasn't more definitive in his address that Ridge was in fact going to be SecHomeSec. "You can't make everyone happy, but there were basic logistics reasons, Washington reasons why Ridge couldn't be nominated," says a White House legislative liaison. "The president couldn't nominate someone to a position that doesn't exist, to a department that doesn't exist. I'd expect that once the legislation creating the department is passed by Congress, you'll see the nomination up there the next day and it will be Ridge."

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topics:
Foreign Policy, Russia