Bush Aide Resigns for Possible Senate Run

[No Mandate Here.]

<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Illinois-Senate-Race.html>


Filed at 5:46 p.m. ET

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- The deputy director of President Bush's drug-control office resigned Friday to explore a run for the Senate in place of Jack Ryan, the Republican nominee who dropped out over sex-club allegations.

Dr. Andrea Grubb Barthwell, a Chicago-area physician, had been deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington since 2002, focusing on reducing demand for drugs. Federal law barred her from seeking the Republican nomination while she worked for the government.

<snip>

``I'm interested, I want to be considered and I will make myself available to those who make that decision,'' she said, ``but I am not assuming that I will be the candidate and I am not assuming that once I get all the information that I need, that I would want to run in this particular race.''

<snip>

Barthwell is an unknown even to most leaders of the state GOP. ``Who? Don't know her,'' U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois said Friday.

more...


Sounds like a viable candidate to me. Go ahead, GOP, and throw a lot of cash her way. I wish I lived in Illinois, so I could watch.

Go, Obama.

[juajen]

1. You got that right

I explored his website. God, is he incredible, or what? Can't wait to have a Senator who is known by one word. Get 'em OBAMA!

[Bandit]

2. Do you honestly think it matters to a Republican whether they have ever

heard of the candidate or not? As long as they have an R in front of their name they will vote for them. Nothing else matters to them. They really don't give a damn about America only winning and control.

[stevebreeze]

3. according to the news on the way home she is not much of a republican

voted "D" in the 2000 primary and did not vote either party since. Also pro choice. First Gidwitz turns um down then Roshenberger. lol why don't these stumble bums just give the seat to O'Bama?
:kick:

[carpe diem]

5. If her voting habits have been ...

non-republican, it will be interesting to see if the GOP leadership in Illinois will trust her to be their candidate or if they will fear her independence. Maybe they would prefer a RINO to a REAL Democrat? Hopefully, the African-American vote will not be split and we lose an incredible candidate like Obama.

[Cocoa]

4. she's African-American

and I think that will be a turnoff to some IL republicans.

Especially down in Matt Hale land, no offense to anyone who lives there.

[carpe diem]

7. I was thinking

the same thing...

[Bucky]

8. Imagine the scene in Rove's office the day before this decision...

Rove to aids: "Get me an Illinois Negro Republican... STAT!"

[Judi Lynn]

6. Democrats have a fine candidate for that position.Here's some info on her:

President George W. Bush nominated Andrea Grubb Barthwell, M.D., FASAM, in December 2001 to serve as Deputy Director for Demand Reduction in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). As a member of the President's sub-cabinet, Dr. Barthwell is a principal advisor to ONDCP Director John P. Walters on policies aimed at reducing the demand for illicit drugs.

During Dr. Barthwell's first two years in the Bush Administration, ONDCP widely publicized the science-based facts about the dangers of marijuana use and the harms of drug legalization. ONDCP encouraged student drug testing as a deterrent to the initiation of drug use and as an early identification tool, and it promoted the expansion and improvement of drug courts.

Dr. Barthwell has served on the White House Task Force on Disadvantaged Youth and the White House Domestic Violence Working Group. She actively works with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to define the scope of its Health Services Research portfolio.

Dr. Barthwell has focused on finding innovative ways to bring care to individuals in need of substance abuse treatment. As an author and lecturer, she focuses on the connections between drug use and cultural issues, violence, and infectious diseases. Her work with ethnic minorities, HIV/AIDS, and women with children has focused on helping individuals to become contributing members of society.
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https://www.ccda.org/conf_speakers.htm