By
Anastasia Ching
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Bush nominates a Democrat to his Cabinet
With the presidential election finally over and the Jan. 20 Inauguration Day just around the corner, President-elect George W. Bush is echoing the sentiments of bipartisanship from his December victory speech.
On Jan. 3, Bush named Democrat and current Secretary of Commerce Norman Y. Mineta to head the Department of Transportation. With this nomination, Mineta becomes the first Cabinet officer to go straight from the administration of one party to the succeeding administration of another. Bush's nomination of Mineta completes his Cabinet selections.
In his victory speech on Dec. 13, Bush expressed a desire for Democrats and Republicans to look past their differences and work together for the people, as was his experience as governor of Texas, he said.
"I am optimistic that we can change the tone of Washington, D.C.," Bush said. "I believe things happen for a reason, and I hope the long wait of the last five weeks will heighten a desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past."
After 37 days of election turmoil between Bush and Vice President Al Gore in state capitals, courtrooms and the media, Texas Gov. George W. Bush is poised to be inaugurated as the 43rd president of the United States.
Manuel Espinoza, a political science junior and president of the University of Arizona College Republicans, will be attending the inauguration and said he is looking forward to the next four years.
"I am overjoyed that George W. Bush is the 43rd president," Espinoza said. "He has campaigned for unity and for being able to bring this country together. We can't get much more divided than we are now, so this is a great opportunity for him to prove himself."
As for Bush's Cabinet nominations, Espinoza said the outlook is good.
"It is very clear that he is aiming for the best people possible, and at the same time he has managed to make his Cabinet more diverse than anyone could have expected," Espinoza said. "He is doing what every great leader needs to do - surround himself with great people."
Melinda Mills, a political science junior and former president of the UA Young Democrats, does not share Espinoza's confidence in Bush.
"Bush's Cabinet appointments - with the exception of Colin Powell - have no substance and are either incredibly disappointing or incredibly outdated," Mills said. "He will be a puppet for the right-wing, but an incredibly ineffective one."
Mills is also disappointed with the current judicial branch.
"The U.S. Supreme Court did not only ruin the image of the judicial branch by displaying complete partisanship, but they put our country at a great disadvantage by allowing George W. Bush to become president," she said.
Other students see Bush being hindered more by his narrow win than his Cabinet choices.
"I feel it doesn't matter if he believes in bipartisanship because, after such a narrow win, he has to be careful not to displease anyone - he'll be forced temporarily into inactivity in order to avoid offending either party," said Stephanie Callimanis, an ecology and evolutionary biology junior.
Brian Bocchino, a creative writing freshman, sees Bush's nomination of a Democrat to his Cabinet as misleading.
"By choosing a Democrat, people will think that he is supporting bipartisanship, but if you look at all of his other Cabinet nominations, they are conservative Republicans - he has to please the people if he wants to be a two-term president," Bocchino said.
Final confirmation hearings for Bush's Cabinet nominees are scheduled to begin next week.
