But as Skinner has discovered in the last few months, the job he inherited from Sununu is a humbling one. When Skinner tried to oust one White House aide, the staff protested that he was being unfair. When he failed to fire the man, the staff scoffed that he was weak. What’s more, they did their complaining-anonymously, of course-on the front page of The Washington Post. In jest, but within earshot of Skinner, White House staffers began sighing that they longed for the much-despised Sununu.
So Skinner might have greeted the arrival in Washington last week of President Bush’s eldest son, George W., the way widows do an undertaker. The president’s son, a Texas businessman who serves as his father’s top political troubleshooter, delivered the final blow against Sununu, and the vultures of the West Wing whispered that he had come to do likewise to Skinner. Adding to the intrigue were reports that George W. was representing not just his father but Secretary of State James Baker, the friend and strategist whom Bush has turned to in his darkest hours.
The gossip was wrong. George W. was in fact more worried about what Ross Perot might do to his father’s chances for a second term than he was about infighting at the White House (PERISCOPE). Firing two chiefs of staff in four months would seem panicky. " Bush’s stuck. He wants to make a change, but he doesn’t feel he can," said a top aide. At the weekend the president said that Skinner would survive-as long as he promised to do better.
Ironically, Skinner was nearly poisoned by his own cure. Sununu had been dictatorial and imperious, refusing to return the phone calls of some cabinet officers. Skinner tried to be more open, inviting a variety of viewpoints at every meeting. As a result, nothing got done, at least not quickly. A debate about whether Bush should speak to a convention of lieutenant governors or travel to a teacher-accreditation event in Texas “seemed to go on for hours,” said one participant, without Skinner making a decision. Bush’s speeches, never his strong point, were cobbled together by committee, and even the tin-eared president complained that they were no good.
Skinner’s biggest mistake may have been failing to outmaneuver Richard Darman, the clever budget director who had formed an alliance with Sununu to control domestic policy. Instead, Skinner merely irritated Darman, telling the National Journal that the OMB chief, who is only five years younger than Skinner, is “a very talented young man.” Skinner rubbed it in by saying that Darman’s influence is “not anywhere close” to what it used to be. After that new stories appeared questioning Skinner’s leadership. Darman’s fingerprints were nowhere near them, but few doubted where the information was coming from.
To ensure Skinner’s survival, sacrifices may have to be made. The head most likely to roll is that of Skinner’s deputy, W. Henson Moore. A genial former congressman whom Skinner himself brought into the White House, Moore has alienated aides by procrastinating more than Skinner. Significantly, Skinner berated his deputy at a recent session before a dozen staffers.
Other staffers are threatening to jump ship. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater stormed off to Bermuda for a vacation three weeks ago after a blowup with Moore and had to issue a press release saying he planned to come back. Fitzwater griped that his role was impossible because the White House had no coherent ideas to communicate.
That is the real problem in the White House these days, and the fault is not Sam Skinner’s but the president’s. The worst moments for the Bush re-election effort have come when the president dared to leave the White House and take to the campaign trail, where he left voters baffled and, at times, bemused at his blitherings. In a dawn’s-early-light walk to see Washington’s cherry blossoms last week, Bush joked to reporters that he wanted to be re-elected because the public was so complimentary of his first pitch of the baseball season (it bounced). " I think the American people seem to be sensitive," he said. " They see what the man was trying to do-keep it outside on the opening left-handed hitter." Bush may be unhappy about all the turmoil in his staff, but for now he seems content to let Skinner take the heat for failures that are ultimately his own.
