Bolten quietly orchestrates change in White House
By William Douglas | McClatchy Newspapers
* Posted on Sunday, September 23, 2007
WASHINGTON — Joshua Bolten, President Bush's bass-guitar-playing White House chief of staff, has been hitting the right notes lately, even with some of the administration's harshest critics.
Several Democratic lawmakers praised Bolten this week for helping to find pragmatic outsider Michael Mukasey to replace Bush's longtime inner-circle friend Alberto Gonzales as attorney general — and thus avoiding the fierce Senate confirmation fight that was expected if Bush had chosen another loyalist or ideologue.
"Josh Bolten is exercising pragmatic conservatism," said Kenneth Duberstein, who was President Reagan's last chief of staff. "There is a sense that compromise is no longer a four-letter word as long as the president can adhere to his fundamental principles."
Bush remains mired in Nixon-like low approval ratings, and the nation is still slogging through an unpopular war in Iraq, but administration friends and foes alike say they see positive change in the White House, thanks largely to its low-profile chief of staff.
"I have found Josh Bolten to be a breath of fresh air," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., no fan of Bush. "I find him somebody that I can talk to. He returns calls quickly. I like him. He follows orders from the White House, and I know that, but he does have a lot of sway in what goes on."
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