Ungraceful exit Things were going tear-jerkingly well at Linda Chavez's news conference. Then she opened her mouth.
- - - - - - - - - - - - By Alicia Montgomery
Jan. 10, 2001 | WASHINGTON -- It would have been hard for Linda Chavez to live up to the recent good-loser standard set by Vice President Al Gore, but as she withdrew from consideration for the labor secretary position, she didn't even come close. "I believe that I would have made a great secretary of labor," she said, but decided to call it quits because she was "becoming a distraction."
Chavez's farewell press conference ranged from inspirational to self-pitying, and ended in a flurry of half-answered questions, the very same ones that sank her nomination. The event featured Chavez's best advocates, people who were the beneficiaries of what President-elect George W. Bush's team has called Chavez's acts of compassion. But their simple eloquence was undermined by Chavez's worst advocate: herself.
Full story: http://www.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/01/10/chavez/index.html