Fed could be next for Rubin
November 28, 1999
BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Sources in Wall Street report that former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin's new
contract with Citicorp permits him to become Federal Reserve chairman as early as
next year.
Rubin is nominally one of the "big three" officers at the financial giant, but he
reportedly requested that he not be given executive responsibility or be put in line to
eventually become Citicorp's CEO. Therefore, he could be named to head the Fed
by President Clinton or by a Democratic president elected in 2000.
Clinton has not signaled whether he will reappoint Alan Greenspan as Fed chairman
after his third term at the central bank ends next June. Greenspan and Rubin are the
only possible Clinton appointments likely to be confirmed by the current Senate.
Hillary anxiety
Hillary Rodham Clinton's reassurance Tuesday that she really intends to run for the
Senate has not eased anxiety among New York Democratic candidates about her
impact on the 2000 state ticket.
These office-seekers privately express apprehension about running on a slate headed
by Vice President Al Gore for president and Clinton for the Senate. But party
insiders see no alternative to her at this stage.
Rep. Nita Lowey, the only practical Democratic possibility for the Senate other than
the first lady, has promised House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt that she will
seek another term from her shaky congressional seat, no matter what Mrs. Clinton
does. Gephardt is pressing hard for a Democratic majority in the House that will
make him speaker in 2001.
McCain's journalists Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign strategists
attribute the recent furor about their candidate's emotional stability mainly to outrage
by his liberal journalistic admirers.
Long before he began to run for president, the impact on McCain of more than five
years' incarceration as a prisoner of war was talked about by colleagues in the
privacy of the Senate cloakroom. "Our liberal friends in the media just now heard
this stuff and became indignant," said a McCain insider. "We'd prefer to see the
whole thing dropped."
Ousting Armey Although J. Dennis Hastert got high marks from Republican
colleagues in his debut year as House speaker, back-benchers talk about ousting
Dick Armey as majority leader if the GOP keeps control of the House in the 2000
election.
Rep. Steve Largent of Oklahoma, who unsuccessfully ran against Armey for leader
after the 1998 election, could try again. But there is also a search for other
candidates to satisfy grumbling about the lack of a strong Armey presence this year.
A footnote: If the Republicans lose the House next year, it is considered unlikely that
Hastert would want to serve as minority leader. The best bet for such a post: Tom
DeLay, the current majority whip.
V.P. Richardson Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, with an outside chance to be
Al Gore's vice presidential running mate, has taken to heart suggestions from political
allies that he better shed some poundage.
Using a protein diet, Richardson has taken off some 30 pounds, and now looks
mean and lean. He was an influential Democratic House member from New Mexico
before joining the Clinton Cabinet in 1997 as ambassador to the United Nations.
A footnote: The current favorite for vice president among Democratic insiders if
Gore should be nominated is Bill Bradley, his opponent for the nomination. No
Democratic nominee has chosen a presidential rival as running mate since John F.
Kennedy tapped Lyndon B. Johnson in 1960. |
