An Act of Bipartisanship, or Merely an Act?

The whispers started this week. George W. Bush had the names of five congressional Democrats on his short list for potential Bush administration posts.

Had he really? Flattered, I’m sure, said those mentioned the next day, but I haven’t gotten a call.

And so it goes as the double transitions that are not officially transitions gather steam. Names float. Names sink. Names sail into the sunset. And with both Democrat Al Gore and the Republican Texas governor interested in playing the part of president-elect before either one has any real jobs to offer, the only thing certain is that all of the floating is by design.

For Bush and Gore this week, the design appears simple: Each wants to look like he’s reaching out to the other party. That’s why each has sent aides before television cameras to suggest that hiring people from the other side of the aisle might be a good idea. But with all the maneuvering taking place in an intensely bitter and divided Washington, political insiders from across the spectrum said that it may be a stretch for either candidate to convince someone from the other party to accept a job.

“Between now and the time we know for certain who the president is, I cannot imagine any politically active partisan saying, ‘Oh yeah, sure I’ll serve in the other party’s administration,’ ” said Susan Schwab, dean of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland and a former assistant secretary of Commerce in the George Bush administration. “It’s a real shame. One can really make a case for having both parties involved in the Cabinet. But it gets tougher to do that as each day goes by.”

Both Roll Call, a Washington newspaper that is a perennial tip sheet, and the Wall Street Journal published stories Thursday morning saying that several House Democrats were on the Bush team’s radar screen.

But four of the five contacted by The Times had, as of Thursday afternoon, not been called by the Texas governor or his transition team.

Rep. Charles W. Stenholm (D-Texas), a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee mentioned as a possible secretary of Agriculture, said that he had received no calls. Nor had Rep. Ralph M. Hall, another Texas Democrat, mentioned as a possible secretary of Energy, according to a Hall spokeswoman.

Reps. Robert E. “Bud” Cramer Jr. (D-Ala.) and Allen Boyd Jr. (D-Fla.) were also mentioned, but not yet called, as potential appointees in a Republican administration.

On Thursday, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer struck a humble tone, saying that Bush “is looking forward to calling additional Democrats on Capitol Hill. But . . . the governor--out of respect and bipartisanship--is going to wait for a moment when that call will be well-received.”

Ultimately, the process of floating names for appointments is as much about political strokes as it is about building an administration. Bush, if he becomes president, will have to reach out to centrist and conservative Democrats to get his legislative program through a closely divided Congress.

“For a conservative Democrat, it’s wonderful to be mentioned,” one top aide to the House Democratic leadership said. “It’s the ultimate seal of approval that you really are a bipartisan, independent type. If I were any of them, I’d be encouraging this talk for any reason. It’s gold.”

In Bush’s case, the gold is being offered to lawmakers who have already shown some willingness to stray from the party line in the presidential election.

Hall last year allowed his name to be listed as a “Democrat for Bush.” Stenholm said that he supported the Democratic ticket in the election but stopped short of saying that he endorsed Vice President Gore. Boyd did not endorse Gore. And Cramer was quoted this week as saying that he believed the presidential election should come to closure--a position trumpeted by the Bush camp even though Cramer’s spokeswoman says he did not mean to imply that Gore should concede.

With Democrats close to retaking control of the House and Senate, any Democrat wooed by Bush would face pressure from party leaders to stay in Congress to fend off opportunities for Republicans to pick up seats.

That calculus is not lost on House Republicans. Tony Rudy, a top aide to House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas), was positively gleeful at the prospect of Bush offering administration positions to conservative Democrats.

“Politically it would be good for us because they represent conservative districts. Politically it’s good for Bush because he would be reaching out to Democrats. It’s a no-lose situation. I hope he takes as many as he can.”

Rep. Calvin M. Dooley (D-Visalia), a leader among centrist Democrats, brushed off questions about the possibility that he could be wooed into a Bush administration, even after the election is settled.

“The political environment for a Democrat accepting a position in a Bush Cabinet, or a Republican in a Gore administration, certainly has degenerated and is much more difficult than it was a couple weeks ago or even prior to the election,” Dooley said, calling from an airport on his way to Florida to do partisan trench work for Gore.

“I’m not saying it can’t happen. But it would take a significant commitment by either Gore or Bush to demonstrate that they were going to work in a bipartisan manner.”

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Times staff writers Janet Hook in Washington and Edwin Chen in Austin, Texas, contributed to this story.