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Republicans angle for spots in a Romney administration

By Philip Rucker and David Nakamura,November 01, 2012

View Photo Gallery - : Mitt Romney’s inner circle: Many of Romney’s top advisers have…

With the presidential contest entering its final days, Mitt Romney and his top advisers are preparing to make a series of personnel announcements as early as next week — immediately after the election — should the Republican nominee win the White House, according to aides who have been working on his campaign and his transition plans.

For months, much of the political jockeying in Washington has revolved around President Obama, as polls appeared to show him heading toward a second term and supporters took his reelection for granted. Several high-ranking Obama officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, made clear their intention to leave even if the president wins, setting in motion a sometimes publicly visible audition process for their successors.

But as the race has narrowed to a dead heat, top Republican officials have stepped up their angling for slots in a Romney administration. And Romney advisers tasked with leading the “Readiness Project,” an internal operation to ensure a smooth transition of power during the 77 days between the election and the inauguration, have assembled short lists of candidates for the highest-level Cabinet and White House staff positions — including the people who would quickly take the helm should Romney win and begin mapping out the rest of his senior leadership staff.

Asked to describe the kind of team Romney would build, one Republican close to the transition planning said it would be “the third Reagan term that we never got.” Other supporters said they are looking for clues as to whether Romney would cater to the ideological right or more to the center, with evidence pointing to both.

Although the Romney campaign says the candidate has made no final personnel decisions, and the formal vetting would not begin until after the election, a picture of a possible Romney administration has begun to emerge — especially on the economic and foreign policy fronts, two areas that will present the winner with immediate challenges.

Mike Leavitt, a former Utah governor and secretary of Health and Human Services, is heading Romney’s transition team, which is based in Washington, funded with government money and largely independent from the Boston-based campaign. Leavitt is being discussed as a likely chief of staff in a Romney administration, which would signal that Romney wants a pragmatic leader, versed in the ways of Washington, at the helm rather than an ideological firebrand or an outsider. Aides said Leavitt wields unquestioned authority, with lists of candidates for appointments going through him before reaching Romney.

Conflicting pressures on Romney are playing out in his rumored finalists for secretary of state. Robert B. Zoellick, a George W. Bush administration official who recently stepped down as head of the World Bank, is being mentioned as a possible head of the State Department or the Treasury Department.

But conservative Romney allies consider Zoellick too moderate and conciliatory and not as powerful an advocate for American strength abroad as other contenders for national security positions, including John R. Bolton, a Romney campaign surrogate who served as Bush’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Richard S. Williamson, a top foreign policy official in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and a senior policy adviser to Romney, is in the mix for a number of foreign policy posts, including perhaps national security adviser.

Romney aides said they are searching for potential appointees not only among those who have served in government but also across corporate America and other sectors removed from politics. The backgrounds of leading candidates are under intense internal review and dossiers are being prepared for Romney’s perusal, said advisers and Romney associates, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations.

“There’s a lot of people that we’re looking at who are just great Americans who haven’t been involved with the campaign,” said a Romney adviser with knowledge of the transition planning.

Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), Romney’s sparring partner in practice debates, is likely to be a top candidate to head the Treasury Department, advisers have said. Portman served as director of the Office of Management and Budget in the George W. Bush administration. Another contender is R. Glenn Hubbard, the dean of Columbia Business School, who chaired Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers and has helped Romney develop his economic agenda.