OPM’s James rallies GOP troops
At convention in New York, civil service chief makes a get-out-the-vote pitch to swing-state delegates.
Office of Personnel Management Director Kay Coles James is in New York this week to help rally the Republican Party faithful to get George Bush reelected.
James spoke Monday to the Minnesota delegation at a breakfast meeting at the Marriott East Side hotel in Manhattan. "Serving this president is no joke," James told the swing state delegation, reminding them that he is the first president with an MBA and is an avid baseball fan. "He likes to win, he likes to keep score and he demands results."
It's common for political appointees in the executive branch to stump for their bosses, though they have to perform such political work on their own time. James appeared at the meeting with Education Secretary Rod Paige. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Agriculture Secretary Anne Veneman are among the other Cabinet secretaries in New York this week.
James devoted most of her speech to discussing President Bush's record to encourage the Minnesotans to get out the vote. But she also spent a few moments talking about her job as OPM director--without mentioning OPM specifically. Rather, James described herself as the head of the civil service.
"It is now honorable to be an American civil servant because of what this president has done," James said, pointing to Bush's response to the Sept. 11 attacks, tax cuts, education reform and Medicare prescription drug benefits.
She also said Bush was the reason she is a public servant, explaining that he encouraged her to go into government years ago. "There is nothing better," James said, "than serving this president at this point in time."