WASHINGTON -- For weeks, there has been talk of the White House rolling out a prominent Republican supporter of START, the nuclear weapons treaty negotiated with Russia.
The chatter heightened last week, when a conspicuous opening was seen in the president's daily schedule. But the endorser that go-round -- former Secretary of State Colin Powell -- had already spoken in favor of START in the past. And his subsequent reaffirmation of support made little news.
On Wednesday, the White House landed its new big fish, and without much of a line being cast. Former President George H.W. Bush put out a one-line statement that read: "I urge the United States Senate to ratify the START treaty."
The statement, which could give the treaty a nice boost among Republican voters in the Senate (it needs 67 senators to pass) was sent out without the administration's prompting, said Jim Appleby, an aide to the former president.
"He was not asked to put this out via the White House," Appleby said.
The notion that the administration wasn't making overtures in private to get Bush's support remains hard to believe. And it could be that Bush's office simply didn't alert them to the fact that a statement was coming. Indeed, the administration aide who blasted out the statement to reporters acknowledged finding out about the former president's support via a report by CNN.
As for the brevity of it all, Appleby was equally direct. "It is short and sweet and to the point," he said.
UPDATE: Senator Susan Collins' (R-ME) office said late Wednesday afternoon that the Maine Republican was "encouraged" by former President Bush's statement of support for the START Treaty and was growing more inclined to vote for the measure.
The Senator, a key vote on START, had earlier said that the former President's position on the matter would factor into her vote. But Bush's one-line statement wasn't the only factor contributing to her more favorable disposition.
Kevin Kelley, a spokesman for Collins, said the Senator had also received a letter from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressing her concerns that START did not effectively deal with nuclear tactical weapons. Collins was reading over the reply on Wednesday.
"But she had said at the end of last week that if the response is satisfactory... then she would be inclined to support it based on the fact that the administration had satisfied her other concerns," said Kelley.