Weld set to fight for confirmation

Envoy nominee to quit governorship

BY GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press

BOSTON Despite long odds in Washington, Gov. William Weld plans to
resign as governor to fight full time for his nomination as ambassador
to Mexico, a source close to the governor told the Associated Press on
Sunday.

Weld will announce his resignation, effective at 5 p.m. Tuesday, at a
news conference today, the source said. He announced the decision during
a meeting Sunday afternoon with his wife and top advisers.

``He's very energized to go down to Washington and beat the drum on the
ambassadorship,'' said the source, who spoke on condition on anonymity.

Weld, with a little more than a year left in his second term, would be
replaced by Lt. Gov. Paul Cellucci, who would become acting governor
until 1998.

While Weld will lack the political heft of a sitting governor, ``it
gives him the chance to focus on the ambassadorship full time,'' the
source said.

The fight for confirmation, however, remains decidedly uphill.

Just hours before Weld convened his meeting, Senate Majority Leader
Trent Lott said Weld's chances of being confirmed may have disappeared
when he criticized the powerful head of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, Sen. Jesse Helms, RN.C.

``The biggest problem right now is Gov. Weld shot his foot off,'' Lott,
RMiss., said on NBC's ``Meet the Press.'' ``He held a news conference
and bashed the chairman of the committee that held his fate on this
nomination.''

Helms, who effectively can kill a nomination by refusing to schedule
hearings, has said Weld is unqualified for the job because he is soft on
drugs. Weld, a moderate Republican, has supported the medical use of
marijuana and a needle exchange program for addicts. Helms has since
reiterated his promise to deny Weld a confirmation hearing.

Two weeks ago, Weld fought back, accusing the conservative Helms of
``ideological extortion.'' He said Helms' opposition has nothing to do
with drug policy. ``It has everything to do with the future of the
Republican Party. In plain language, I am not Senator Helms' kind of
Republican.''

Asked if he might step in to help get Weld's nomination to a vote on the
Senate floor, Lott said committee chairmen have their prerogatives, and
``the majority leader can only push them so much without it becoming
counterproductive.''

The source who spoke to the AP said that Weld has taken Helms'
opposition into account but remains convinced his decision to fire back
at the chairman has galvanized support for him.

First, the White House followed through with Weld's nomination last week
after sending out signals it might seek an alternate posting. Second,
Helms has begun to receive criticism in newspapers across the country
for singlehandedly blocking a confirmation hearing.

Weld, 51, has won notice in national Republican circles for his blend of
fiscal conservatism and socially moderatetoliberal positions.

Published Monday, July 28, 1997, in the San Jose Mercury News