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Another Bust for Commerce?

By Doug Bandow on 2.24.09 @ 11:32AM

Former Washington Gov. Gary Locke is reputed to be up for the Commerce Secretary appointment. But Michelle Malkin tells us that skeletons abound in the former governor's closet.

Explains Malkin:

I covered Gary Locke when I worked at the Seattle Times. I dealt with his campaign and gubernatorial staffs. "Strait-laced" is not the adjective I'd use for my dealings with him and his people.

In response to my columns pressing Locke on his close ties to campaign finance crook John Huang, the governor's office first stonewalled. His standard Democrat smokescreen? Play the race card and play the victim.

This could be fun. Maybe the president is going for a record number of withdrawals for a Cabinet position.

View all comments (5) | Leave a comment

ruth| 2.24.09 @ 11:59AM

Cabinetgate. These people are NOT ready for prime time.

Interested Conservative| 2.24.09 @ 12:17PM

"This could be fun. Maybe the president is going for a record number of withdrawals for a Cabinet position. "

That's a good question - Is Bill's initial AG selection the standard? I recall three - Baird, Wood and then 8 years of Reno. Arguably, BHO is already there if we recall he initially floated Penny Pritzker for Commerce, then Richardson and Gregg, and now Locke.

Stan Redmond| 2.24.09 @ 12:40PM

to be fair to Gregg, he didn't resign because of skeletons in the closet.

Interloper| 2.24.09 @ 4:14PM

You all still haven't learned to consider the source. Michelle Malkin? You must be kidding. She would not recognize the truth if it walked up to her and said 'Girl, you are a bitter Filipino immigrant who wants to be white. Some time on the couch would surely help.'

Gary Locke has an excellent resume for someone who has been in politics for more than two decades. He has taught constitutional law, served in a state legislature, been the executive of a large county government, and practiced law for a major white collar firm.

Locke was completely cleared of any wrongdoing in the fund-raising scandal. Indeed, attention focused on him because the money men were also of Chinese ancestry. He and his family were subjected to race-based threats, including talk of killing the children, while he was in office. But, having dealt with adversity will have made him stronger.