CONSERVATIVES PUSH for right-minded Bush appointees. A top goal is Oklahoma Gov. Keating for attorney general over Montana Gov. Racicot. Some conservatives circulate a past Racicot speech depicting the GOP right as extremists. In next week's Human Events magazine, Oklahoma GOP Sen. Inhofe blasts talk of moderate Pennsylvania Gov. Ridge as Bush's defense secretary.
Conservative activists worry that Bush's inner circle is devoid of true believers. "These are not folks waiting for their next issue of National Review to come in," says the Hudson Institute's Marshall Wittmann. Meantime, front-runners for agriculture secretary include Texas Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs and Ann Veneman, a former California agriculture chief.