No Snow Job

And so another Treasury Secretary exits, probably to "stage left." Anybody want to set up a betting pool as to how long it'll be before John Snow publishes his Bush-bashing, tell-all memoir?

Of Hank Paulson I knew, before now, not the slightest thing. A waggish corner of my mind was hoping it was Pat Paulsen, even if he has been dead for nearly a decade, as the Bush Administration sells its economic successes with so little enthusiasm that actually having a pulse has never seemed all that necessary to the job.

But there may be some PR hope to this selection after all, according to Rich Lowry:

This is what I'm picking up from a few conversations:

It is significant that the White House managed to get someone of stature, since the conventional wisdom had become that no one serious would take the job [i.e. Pat Paulsen wouldn't return their calls].

Paulson is not a Bush insider like Don Evans (who had been rumored to be the pick) and has a sterling reputation on Wall Street. What he says will carry real weight with the markets.

The speculation is that Paulson must have said no repeatedly, but Josh Bolten finally succeeded in twisting his arm [Dubya better be kissing Bolten's ass daily]. Some people guess that Paulson taking the job might mean that the position will have more heft than it has had to this point in the Bush Administration and also that there may be some significant policy proposals coming eventually. He has a reputation as a very smart guy and has been a defender of the Bush tax cuts. He should pretty quickly give Bush added credibility on the economy.

In other words, Bush will have an articulate, clout-wielding economic spokesman who actually believes in his economic policies (which Paul O'Neill didn't) and is willing and able to sell them (which John Snow wasn't). And maybe, just maybe, the five-year Bush Boom that Dubya's infuriating neglect has allowed to roar in an utter public relations vacuum, such that many Americans think we're in a permanent recession, will start getting its due props - along with its suicidally modest architect.

UPDATE 5/31: Well, that was a short honeymoon....