White House vows new bid to save Weld nomination

WASHINGTON (Reuter) The White House Monday vowed to salvage the
nomination of former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld to become
ambassador to Mexico. Spokesman Mike McCurry insisted it was not too
late for Weld after his fractious dispute with Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms, despite predictions from
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott that the nomination was dead.
``It's not, and he knows it,'' McCurry said, referring to Lott. ``I
can easily understand he would like to see the problem go away. But
it's not going to go away, and we are going to fight for the
nomination, and the governor is going to have a chance to make his
case as he should.'' Helms, a staunchly conservative Republican from
North Carolina, has vowed to use his senatorial privileges to bar a
hearing for Weld, a moderate Republican, despite the emergence last
week of a bipartisan majority of panel members seeking to overrule
him. Helms has contended that Weld was unfit to represent the United
States in Mexico, citing what he regards as an inadequate commitment
to antidrug efforts. He also has taken offense at previous Weld
charges of being subjected to ``ideological extortion'' by the
committee chairman. Clinton has been under fire for not being
supportive enough of Weld's nomination after Weld resigned as
governor of his home state to seek the Mexico post. McCurry said that
was a wrong perception and added, ``I wouldn't be surprised if the
president in a more public way takes a role in the nomination fight
as well.'' He admitted that a ``behindthescenes'' effort to coax
Helms into holding a hearing for Weld had failed. ``So we're in a
position now where we will be able to do some things publicly.'' He
did not elaborate.

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