Ambassadorships Require More Than Fundraising Prowess

Is raising lots of money for a presidential campaign enough to qualify someone to be an ambassador?

Seems to be.

David Wilkins went to the Canadian side of Niagra Falls once and he doesn’t speak French. But he did raise more than $200,000 for the Bush-Cheney campaign and he’s been nominated as ambassador to Canada.

And, Craig Stapleton was also among the top fund-raisers for Bush in both the 2000 and 2004 election cycles. He’s also a cousin-in-law of the President’s and a former investor with him in the Texas Rangers baseball team. He’s been nominated as ambassador to France.

Another Bush Pioneer, Julie Finley, has been nominated as ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. And, Bush Pioneer, Molly Bordonaro has been nominated as ambassador to Malta.

Staying true to form, the President has also nominated his ex-roomie and financial contributor, Robert Dieter, as ambassador to Belize, and Bush Ranger, Rodolphe Valle, as ambassador to the Slovak Republic.

Our ambassadors are charged with promoting American interests abroad, often, as the Brookings Institute points out, “at the expense of the host country's sovereignty.” They can influence on American policymakers as well as those within the countries in which they work.

In a time where the American agenda, according to the President and the Secretary of State is to unite the community of democracies in building an international system based on shared democratic values and the rule of law and to support the growth of freedom and democracy throughout the globe, is being a good fundraiser enough?

Don’t we deserve better? Don’t we deserve qualified candidates who are experienced in diplomacy and policy? Why aren’t we outraged?

---Written in conjunction with Jennifer Hicks.