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Another partisan appointment

In choosing a new secretary of state, Gov. Jeb Bush picked a woman with impressive credentials in every aspect of the job except the most important one: overseeing fair and accurate elections.

Sue McCourt Cobb built a successful career as a Miami lawyer and entrepreneur. Her extensive public service record includes a stint as Florida Lottery director, and for 31/2 years she was the U.S. ambassador to Jamaica. She also has been a generous partisan, befriending the governor and president and financially backing Republican candidates.

Cobb is certainly qualified to act as the state's culture czar and keeper of corporate and government records, other duties of the Florida Department of State. But the past two secretaries are remembered most for their ability (or inability) to administer state election law competently and objectively. Katherine Harris, the last elected secretary, botched the 2000 election and brought shame on the state with her incompetence and partisan rulings. Her successor, former Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood, got off to a good start but made some questionable judgments that once again tainted the office's reputation.

Bush needed to consider that history when picking Hood's replacement, but it does not appear to have figured into his choice. In fact, Cobb's only obvious involvement in an election was as a volunteer coordinator of Republican lawyers in the 2000 presidential recount, hardly Florida's finest hour.

Cobb said the right things about her election responsibilities. She said she would separate her political loyalties from her public duty, and when decisions needed to be made, she "would be bound to apply the rule of law." She also made a welcomed promise to be accessible to the public and press, something Harris and Hood failed to do.

With an important election less than a year away - to pick a governor, U.S. senator and representatives, legislators and state Cabinet members - Bush could have set a precedent by picking a secretary with less involvement in partisan politics and more experience in running elections. He chose not to make that part of his legacy.

Still, Cobb deserves the benefit of the doubt. She is certainly bright enough to recognize the challenge ahead and to know her performance will be closely scrutinized.

[Last modified December 9, 2005, 01:18:14]