WASHINGTON (AP) - Fox News commentator Tony Snow is the front-runner to become White House press secretary and a decision on his appointment is near, Republicans close to the White House said Tuesday. Snow has told associates he would like to take the job and he has had serious discussions with White House officials, the Republicans said on condition of anonymity because of President Bush's dislike of news leaks.
As a conservative columnist and commentator, Snow has been sharply critical of Bush and Republicans in Congress at times. The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, circulated unflattering observations by Snow about Bush.
"His (Bush's) wavering conservatism has become an active concern among Republicans, who wish he would stop cowering under the bed and start fighting back against the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Wilson," Snow wrote last November after Republicans failed to win the governor's race in Virginia. "The newly passive George Bush has become something of an embarrassment."
Last month, Snow wrote that Bush and the Republican Congress had "lost control of the federal budget and cannot resist the temptation to stop raiding the public fisc. (treasury)"
Snow, in an Associated Press interview Wednesday, said: "It's public record. I've written some critical stuff. When you're a columnist, you're going to criticize and you're going to praise."
He declined to say whether he had been offered the White House job.
One factor in Snow's decision is he had his colon removed last year and underwent six months of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer. He had a CAT scan last week needed to consult with his doctors about taking the White House job.
Snow is the host of the "Tony Snow Show" on Fox News Radio and "Weekend Live with Tony Snow on the FOX News Channel. He served in the administration of President George H.W. Bush as White House speechwriting director and later as a deputy assistant to the president for media affairs.
Snow would succeed Scott McClellan, who announced last week he was leaving after nearly three years as Bush's chief spokesman. McClellan's departure is part of a White House personnel shuffle intended to re-energize Bush's presidency and lift his record-low approval ratings.
