'Friend of Canada' touted for top post

Janet Napolitano eyed for Homeland Security

Sheldon Alberts, Canwest News Service
Published: 2:33 am

WASHINGTON - Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, a centrist Democrat who has pursued stronger economic ties with Canada, emerged Thursday as a leading contender to become president-elect Barack Obama's first secretary of Homeland Security.

The potential selection of Napolitano, 50, to head the massive agency places issues of illegal immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border near the top of Obama's security agenda.

But the idea that Napolitano might take over the agency was also being welcomed by Canadian businesses and government. Since her election as Arizona governor in 2002, she has taken a keen interest in strengthening her state's ties with Canada, joining western premiers and governors in a climate change pact and promoting a trade corridor running from Western Canada south to Mexico.

Napolitano travelled to Ottawa last year for talks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on border security and trade -- a first-ever visit for an Arizona governor -- that highlighted her interest in expanding the $3 billion in bilateral trade between her state and Canada.

"She's a real friend of Canada, very favourable toward Canada," said Glenn Williamson, founder and director of the Canada Arizona Business Council.

"She really gets the concept of trade with Canada."

Napolitano is the only governor on Obama's presidential transition team. Although she served as a U.S. attorney during the Clinton administration, Napolitano became close to Obama after endorsing him prior to Arizona's Democratic primary last February.

Aides to Obama refused to comment on speculation about Napolitano, and it's believed she may also be a contender for an administration job other than Homeland Security.

She has also shown interest in challenging failed Republican presidential candidate John McCain in his Arizona Senate re-election bid in 2010. Stoking the rumours about Napolitano, McCain's office released a statement saying the Arizona senator had called the governor to offer congratulations.

Napolitano's experience "warrants her rapid confirmation by the Senate and I hope she is quickly confirmed," McCain said.

Napolitano rose to national prominence as a lawyer for Anita Hill, who in 1991 accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Her representation of Hill during the Senate judiciary committee's confirmation hearings for Thomas sparked the ire of conservatives, whom she has frequently courted during her political career. Napolitano has since downplayed her role as "a four-day representation in a 10-year career (as a lawyer)."

She was working as a U.S. attorney in Arizona when the Justice Department opted not to prosecute Cindy McCain, the wife of McCain, for taking prescription drugs from one of her charities.

Napolitano became a rising Democratic star by winning an election in staunchly Republican Arizona and taking a middle road on the hot-button issue of illegal immigration. She opposed the construction of a border wall, supported the deployment of the National Guard along the border, backs guest-worker programs and favours prosecution of companies employing undocumented workers.

"I really resist lots of labels, because labels assume a whole package of characteristics and stereotypes," Napolitano told the American Prospect earlier this year.

© The Edmonton Journal 2008

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/n ... 01&k=68994