Gov. Weld Will Quit to Pursue Mexico Post

Massachusetts’ charismatic, blueblood governor, William F. Weld, intends to announce his resignation today to concentrate his efforts on his beleaguered bid to become the next U.S. ambassador to Mexico, White House officials traveling with the president in Los Angeles confirmed.

Weld, a moderate Republican, spoke with White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles on Sunday to inform him of his plans, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said.

The decision will not affect the president’s efforts to press Congress to confirm Weld as ambassador to Mexico, Lockhart added.

“Gov. Weld has been a skilled leader, and we continue to believe that Gov. Weld would be an excellent ambassador to Mexico,” Lockhart told reporters at a Sunday evening fund-raiser for Democratic House races at the Regency Club in Los Angeles.

Asked whether Weld sought the advice of the White House before making his decision, Lockhart said: “It’s the governor’s decision.”

President Clinton officially nominated Weld for the ambassadorial post Wednesday. But weeks before the nomination was announced, one of the Senate’s most influential members made it clear that he would fight to prevent Weld from becoming ambassador.

Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a conservative, objects to Weld because he does not believe that the governor’s stance against drugs is fervent enough. Among other things, Helms objects to Weld’s support for legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. Weld also supports needle exchanges for addicts at risk of contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Helms, whose panel has initial jurisdiction over ambassadorial appointments, could block the bid.

Earlier this month, Weld made a dramatic declaration that he intended to fight back, arguing that the battle was not only over the ambassadorial post but also over the fate of the Republican Party.

“This is about ideological purity, and whether there is only one kind of Republican welcomed in the Republican Party,” Weld said. “That’s what this is about.”

But his declaration appeared to prompt Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to back away from leading a possible charge to rescue Weld’s troubled nomination.

“Two weeks ago, we might could have worked out something with the chairman,” Lott said, referring to Helms. “But the biggest problem right now is Gov. Weld shot his foot off,” Lott said Sunday on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press.”

But Weld’s fervent declarations helped to push the president to officially nominate him.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said last week that winning Weld’s appointment will take “an extensive effort on our part.”

Although White House officials have consistently said the president would push for Weld’s confirmation, political analysts suggest that the president will not be willing to expend too much capital fighting for a Republican.

The troublesome appointment has become problematic for the White House because it has forced the president to leave one of America’s most critical ambassadorial posts open.

It is not news that Weld, who has been governor for seven years and is quite popular, feels ready to leave the governor’s mansion. Weld ran an energetic challenge to Sen. John Kerry in November.

Times wire services contributed to this story.