(The following story by Maria Recio appeared on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram website on February 5.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Robert Crandall, the former chief executive of American Airlines, has always been his own man, a trait appreciated by President Bush, who nominated him in 2003 to the Amtrak board of directors.
But when the White House discovered late in 2004 that Crandall had contributed the maximum $2,000 to the Democratic presidential campaigns of both Howard Dean and John Kerry — and nothing to re-elect Bush — officials wasted no time in cutting Crandall loose.
Crandall’s nomination was to be voted on by the Senate at the end of the congressional term in December. But the nomination got held up by congressional bureaucracy and politics, and it died quietly. Officials do not expect it to be resubmitted.
“I don’t know how public this is,” said Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Rail Passengers, “but I heard that he gave money to Democrats, and so it’s not surprising that his nomination didn’t move forward.”
Senate staffers knowledgeable about the nomination confirmed the decision to pull the nomination was a consequence of his political contributions.
“That pattern would send up red flags in any White House,” said one senior Senate Republican aide who requested he not be named because of the sensitive politics involved.
“There are thousands of people who went to the wall for George W. Bush this election. Can you imagine if this got out?”
According to the Federal Election Commission database, Crandall gave $2,000 in 2003 to Dean and $2,000 to Kerry in 2004.
Crandall made a $1,000 contribution to Bush’s presidential campaign in 1999 when the president was governor of Texas but did not contribute anything to his re-election campaign.
Crandall, asked about the status of his nomination, said in an e-mail exchange, “I know very little about it.”
The former American executive did not comment on his political contributions. He retired in 1998.
“My understanding is that there is so much bad blood that the Senate failed to approve a very large number of appointments to many boards, study groups, commissions, etc.,” he wrote. “As I understand it, large groups are usually approved in a single resolution at the end of each session, but that did not happen.”
He added, “Obviously, no one in Washington really cares what happens to Amtrak, and there is no national transportation plan, or things like this would not happen.”
Bush proposes to end federal subsidies for Amtrak, but some members of Congress have vowed an all-out fight to keep the federal money flowing because they believe that the rail system will die without it.
Crandall and two other nominees to the Amtrak board had a confirmation hearing Nov. 6, 2003, before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and the former American chief was received warmly by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the committee chairman.
After an impasse over judicial nominations and appointments was resolved in the Senate, the committee approved the Amtrak board members Nov. 18, 2003, in executive session, according to committee spokeswoman Melanie Alvord.
But Congress adjourned Dec. 8, 2004, without taking action, and all pending nominations expired.