Woods Walks

Jefferson County Sheriff Mitch Woods held a press conference on Tuesday to announce his withdrawal from consideration as nominee for US Marshal of the Eastern District of Texas.

On the SET Political Review, Philip R. Klein speculates on the reasons:

Our guess? Team Obama.

It is not [sic] almost two years deep in the Obama administration and there is no US Attorney, no US Marshal and frankly appointments are being held up. Why? Because unless there is a social agenda - not law enforcement - appointments are not important. Woods knows that. And the word on the street is that maybe the appointments and confirmations to the senate may go way past summer. Then you ask - why? Why hitch a ride on a dying star? Why hitch a ride on a president that is everything but law enforcement? Why hitch a ride on the likes of President Obama? Who will bring down the democratic party.

Since we're both guessing, I suspect it has more to do with the length of time it takes to get an Obama nomination pushed through the political process. In December, the Beaumont Enterprise quoted a named source from the Department of Justice about the nomination of Judge John Stevens:

Spokespeople for the White House and the Department of Justice, which conducts extensive background checks on all presidential nominees, would not comment on the status of the nomination.

Those background checks can take months, Department of Justice spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said.

Of the 93 U.S. Attorney positions, Obama has nominated 35 people. Ten of those have been confirmed by the Senate, she said.

Sheriff Mitch Woods answered this question during his press conference:

"I did not want to turn the President down. Of course, if this happened real quick, it would not have given me the time to think about it and dwell on it, and I wouldn't have has so much contact with the public asking me to stay."

"I've been overwhelmed with people who've wanted me to stay. It has taken me a long time to deliberate. I think I can do more to serve the Eastern District of Texas as Sheriff and serve the people who've elected me."

As a cretin with many hidden agendas, Philip often misses the point that sometimes a cigar really is just a cigar. Doesn't it seem like only a few months ago that Philip published the "story behind the story," based on another "anonymous source":

It is slow. I am not going to lie to you. The Obama administration has a bunch on their plate - but I have been told that both Stevens and Woods will be in the federal system here pretty quick," said the source in Washington late Friday night. 

Klein also predicted a "dark horse" candidate that never appeared and that's the real story behind the story.