White House Watch: Sacking Rumsfeld is among the options for fresh thinking
There's a shift in some of the behind-the-scenes griping over recent missteps in the administration, especially over the war in Iraq. Some senior Republicans are beginning to think that firing people on the White House staff won't make much difference in improving management and outreach and may actually make matters worse by creating turmoil in the West Wing at a very sensitive time.
Another factor working against dismissals is that White House insiders don't want to deprive President Bush of valued confidants, whose loyalty and company he prizes.
What makes more sense, they say, is to have Bush force Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld out of his job. That would encourage the Pentagon brass to reconsider the current policies in Iraq and elsewhere and might encourage fresh thinking.
Republicans point out that Condoleezza Rice's taking over the State Department has led to new thinking and energy there. This has apparently encouraged Bush to heed the recommendations of his secretary of state more than he accepted the thinking of Colin Powell, Rice's predecessor, who tangled often with Vice President Cheney and Rumsfeld.
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