Editorial: A matter of spin

Monday, July 23, 2007 | 7:07 a.m.

It will be interesting to hear what a former White House political adviser has to say when a House panel asks about reports that she directed the nation's drug czar to appear at political events for vulnerable congressional Republicans during the 2006 campaign.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says that Sara M. Taylor, former White House political affairs director, and Karl Rove, Bush's chief political adviser, improperly arranged for officials from the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy to appear at about 20 political events - potentially violating a law that says the drug office must be nonpolitical.

Such appearances typically included announcements of federal initiatives or grant awards, such as an Oct. 12 event in which John Walters, director of the drug policy office, appeared in Las Vegas with Republican Rep. Jon Porter. Flanked by Porter, Walters announced the launch of a national survey to determine the impact of drugged driving on U.S. highways.

Presumably, such an announcement could have been made from Walters' office in Washington, D.C., and in the absence of a political candidate from the president's own party.

In a story by The New York Times on Wednesday a spokesman from the national drug policy office said that federal antidrug officials routinely tour the country hosting events to raise awareness regarding illegal drug use and that "it's not terribly surprising that during campaign season, candidates from the opposing party aren't as interested in doing events touting administration programs." From "the opposing party?" That seems an odd statement from a supposedly nonpolitical agency.

Waxman told the Times that his suspicions are supported by such documents as an administration memorandum describing how Rove thanked Walters and his staff for going "to the god-awful places we sent them" during the 2006 campaign. Why would White House political advisers be sending federal agency officials anywhere for anything other than a political reason?

Taylor is to appear before Waxman's committee July 30. We'll be interested to hear how she defends the appearances. Federal employees have no business being involved in political campaigns, and these appearances certainly don't pass the smell test.