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SUNDAY EDITORIAL

The issue ~ House speaker named ambassador to Canada

Our opinion ~ Wilkins a deserving, quality nominee; even Democrats can be happy about move

Even Dems can applaud Wilkins appointment

President Bush's formal selection this past week of S.C. House Speaker David Wilkins as U.S. ambassador to Canada should be no surprise — even if the nomination had been a better-kept secret. There is every reason for the Republican president to reward deserving individuals for service to the Republican Party, their state and nation.

Politically alone, Bush can find Wilkins deserving. He was instrumental in engineering the president's breakout primary victory in South Carolina in 2000 over Sen. John McCain — Wilkins' support for Bush coming even as some other key Republicans were backing McCain. He headed Bush's re-election campaign in 2004 and his support for the Bush family dates back to work with the campaigns of the president's father.

There also is Wilkins' role as builder of the Republican Party in South Carolina, bringing it to the kind of dominance that made this a state the president could count on again and again. While former Gov. Carroll A. Campbell Jr. was out front in guiding the GOP, it was Wilkins who was building a base for himself and the party in the Legislature.

Elected to the House in 1981 while Democrats held total control of the General Assembly, Wilkins and his ability were recognized. While the concept for Democrats might have been bringing your political rival into the fold to have him working with rather than against you, the result was a rapid rise for Wilkins. He became chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and was a Republican speaker pro tempore under a Democratic speaker of the House.

When the GOP won electoral control of the House in 1994, Wilkins was an easy choice as speaker for the GOP majority. He's held the post since.

He's no stranger to diplomacy and brokering. Witness the ongoing episode with domestic violence legislation. After Charleston Rep. John Graham Altman put the GOP on the defensive over strengthening punishment for domestic violence, it was Wilkins who took control. He united his forces to revive and revise legislation, required Altman to apologize (or possibly face some formal House sanction) and likely will get the bill through the House and Senate on an extraordinarily fast pace.

Don't look for Democrats to badmouth Wilkins' nomination or oppose him in the U.S. Senate. During a visit to South Carolina in May, Delaware Sen. and potential presidential contender Joe Biden said he'd support Wilkins.

Truth be known, the Democrats in South Carolina have reason to like the appointment. The four-way battle in the state House among GOP leaders to succeed Wilkins gives the minority party an opportunity. Because GOP solons will be divided in their support based on geography, philosophy and pledges, the votes of Democratic representatives can be essential in determining the next speaker. That can produce opportunity in the form of committee assignments, appointments and proposed legislation.

Wilkins may see the ambassadorial opportunity as just the right reason to turn over the speaker's gavel in that he previously listened to pleas to stay on and rejected appointment in 2001 as a federal judge. This time he simply couldn't turn away.

He will replace Paul Cellucci, who left the post in Canada last month. The job is considered a diplomatic plum with the United States' largest trading partner and a job that offers political and professional dividends.

Wilkins told the House this past week he and his wife, Susan, are "very appreciative to President Bush for his confidence and his trust. ... We feel very fortunate to be given this wonderful opportunity."

The S.C. House has a history of powerful and memorable speakers. Wilkins certainly will be remembered among them. He will serve the president and his country very well in a new position.