'Senator No' Strikes
William Weld deserved better

At the very least, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld deserved a
Senate hearing on his nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
But Sen. Jesse Helms, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, insisted on denying him one. In the end, Sen. Helms
decided to run foreign policy his way.

Gov. Weld's decision Monday to remove his name from consideration as
ambassador to Mexico is the end of a sorry legislative chapter. After
President Clinton nominated Mr. Weld for the key international post this
year, Mr. Helms pulled out his lances. Throughout the summer, he pierced
away at Mr. Weld.

The North Carolinian portrayed his fellow Republican as soft on drugs,
and thus unable to seriously challenge Mexico about its real drug
trafficking problems. Sen. Helms contended that Gov. Weld, a former
Reagan Justice Department official and U.S. attorney in Massachusetts,
failed to prosecute many drug traffickers. And he used Mr. Weld's
support for using marijuana for medicinal purposes and his support of
needle exchange programs for drug addicts as further evidence that the
moderate Republican could not be trusted in Mexico.

It simply made no difference to 'Senator No' that some conservative
Republicans, like former Reagan administration Drug Enforcement Agency
chieftain John Lawn, stood up for Mr. Weld. And it made no difference
that even the medical community is split on the marijuanaasmedicine
issue. To Jesse Helms, Bill Weld evidently appeared an accommodating
Neville Chamberlain.

Of course, Mr. Weld did himself no favors by holding a summer press
conference, where he claimed that his imbroglio was essentially an
ideological battle between Mr. Helms the conservative and Mr. Weld the
moderate. That move seemed to have cost him Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott's support.

Still, one cannot blame Bill Weld for returning to Massachusetts.
Republicans like Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar wanted to grant him a
confirmation hearing. But Jesse Helms was never going to bend.

If wise, President Clinton would find Mr. Weld a highlevel
administration post. Along with Republican Bill Cohen at the Pentagon,
Mr. Weld could help create a broad bipartisan government.

Next time, however, Mr. Clinton must work much harder to move his Mexico
nominee through the Senate. Mexico is a key ally, although one could not
tell it by Mr. Clinton's failure to get deeply involved in the
nomination battle. Mexico needs a U.S. ambassador now, not later.