Bush withdraws ambassador choice

WASHINGTON -- President Bush yesterday abruptly withdrew his choice to become ambassador to Belgium in the face of blistering criticism from Senator John F. Kerry and other Democrats over the nominee's financial support for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that tarnished Kerry's war record in the 2004 presidential campaign.

The White House withdrew Sam Fox's nomination less than an hour before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was to vote on whether to recommend his confirmation by the full Senate. Kerry had been rallying opposition to Fox's nomination, arguing that Fox's refusal to apologize for donating $50,000 to the Swift Boat group made him unfit to serve as ambassador.

Kerry applauded the White House's decision to avert a fight over Fox.

"It was the right judgment," said Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat. "Sam Fox had all the opportunity in the world to disavow the politics of personal destruction, and to embrace the truth. He chose not to, and I think the White House did the right thing."

The decision surprised observers and lawmakers, including Kerry, who said he was prepared to strongly argue against Fox's nomination at the hearing. The White House had been privately telling senators in recent days that Bush badly wanted Fox, one of his top fund-raisers, confirmed and dispatched to Brussels. Fox also had the support of independent Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut and at least one Democrat.

But with the Democrat-controlled Foreign Relations Committee appearing likely to recommend his defeat, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the White House wanted to avoid the bruising battle that Democrats seemed intent on waging.

"Because of politics, some members of the Senate would have voted against his nomination, which would have prevented him from serving in this important position," Perino said. "We are disappointed that they made their decision based on partisan politics instead of his leadership abilities."

Perino added that the president did not know about Fox's $50,000 contribution when he nominated him, but said he still believes Fox is qualified to serve as ambassador.

The about-face by the White House is a striking example of the changed dynamic in Washington, with Democrats in control of Congress for the first time in a dozen years. Such a retreat would have been virtually unthinkable when the Senate was in Republican hands.

Julian Zelizer, a congressional historian at Boston University, said he couldn't think of another nomination that sank because of a nominee's political donation rather than because of a nominee's actions.

Such a standard could make it exceedingly difficult for presidents of any party to get nominees in place, since presidents typically use ambassadorships and similar posts to reward the most loyal allies and biggest donors, Zelizer said.

"It's a dangerous standard in this day and age, if both parties use that litmus test as a key standard," he said. "This kind of thing could happen frequently if both parties engage in it. It's in both parties' interest not to do this."

Under most circumstances, the nomination of Fox, 77, would have rocketed through the Senate.

A wealthy St. Louis businessman and philanthropist, Fox has gained wide praise as national chairman of the Jewish Republican Coalition. The millions he has donated and raised for Republican candidates -- he has given $100,000 to presidential candidate Mitt Romney's political action committee -- made him a prime choice for a coveted assignment such as the Belgium ambassadorship.

But Kerry drew the Senate's attention to the $50,000 Fox gave to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in October 2004.

Both Democrats and Republicans condemned the group for leveling misleading -- and in some cases, unsubstantiated -- charges at Kerry to undermine his Vietnam combat record and the citations he earned as a Navy patrol boat commander.

At last month's Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination, Fox told Kerry that he gave to the group to counter Democratic-leaning independent groups that were maligning Republicans.

He said he was not familiar with the Swift Boat group's aggressive tactics against Kerry.

But Kerry, noting that Fox sent his check barely a week before Election Day, questioned Fox's assertion that he didn't know what the Swift Boat Veterans were saying in their controversial, highly publicized advertisements.

On Tuesday, 11 of Kerry's former Swift Boat crewmates wrote a letter to Senate committee members, arguing that Fox bankrolled "smears and lies of combat veterans" and calling for rejection of his nomination.

Meanwhile, as liberal bloggers took up the argument and focused their attention on the three Democratic presidential candidates on the Foreign Relations Committee, support slipped for Fox.

At the hearing and in subsequent weeks, Kerry and other Democrats expressed dismay that Fox refused to apologize for helping the Swift Boat Veterans. Senator Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, said Fox failed to explain why he supported a group "that embodies American politics at its worst."

"His statements just didn't add up," said Obama, a 2008 presidential candidate.