> Ken,
>
> I recently came upon the attached article. Is it possible? I think George
> W is going to need
> the "Top Guns" in order to have a successful tenure. As always, if there
> is anything that I
> can do in support of my Chairman, I stand ready to do so.
>
> Regards,
>
> Miguel
>
> Exclusive Reports
>
> From the November 17, 2000 print edition
>
>
> Lay of the land: Pundits see Enron CEO as top contender for Bush energy
> czar
> Monica Perin
> Enron Corp. CEO Ken Lay's name is buzzing around Houston as a possible
> Secretary of Energy in a Bush Administration, if George W. Bush ultimately
> emerges victorious in the Florida brouhaha.
> Lay held a post in the Department of Energy early in his career and has
> long been a frequent flyer to the nation's capital to testify, lobby and
> consult with federal officials on energy issues.
> Lay was also considered a candidate for a cabinet position in the previous
> Bush administration. When former President George Bush named his Commerce
> Secretary, Houstonian Robert Mosbacher, as general chairman of his
> re-election campaign in December of 1991, Lay was on the list of possible
> successors to Mosbacher.
> As of last week, Lay was maintaining that no one from either presidential
> camp had talked to him about any cabinet positions.
> "He says he doesn't have any interest in going back to Washington. He's
> already been there and done that," says Enron spokesman Mark Palmer,
> although he adds that Lay has "left himself some wiggle room."
> Another Houstonian, Bill White -- CEO of Wedge International -- served as
> Deputy Secretary of Energy from 1993 to 1995 in the Clinton-Gore
> Administration. White believes that if the senior Bush had been re-elected
> in 1992, Lay would likely have been appointed to a position in that
> administration.
> "It would be a great fit for Ken," White says of the energy secretary
> role.
> Ron Oligny, a Houston oil industry consultant and author, has also heard
> the Lay rumors and finds it "difficult to see him walk away from" such an
> opportunity.
> "He has demonstrated the ability to create an atmosphere in which new and
> positive things can happen in the energy sector, so he would be a valid
> choice," Oligny says. "He certainly understands the transition that is
> going on in the energy market."
> John Sodergreen, editor and publisher of several online trade publications
> in the energy commodities trading sector also sees Lay as "a likely
> candidate."
> The Maryland-based industry watcher points out that Bush has mentioned Lay
> in several speeches, and Lay has made big contributions to Bush's
> campaign. Sodergreen believes Lay would not turn down an offer.
> "That would be very bad for Enron. He couldn't do that. Besides, he
> doesn't need more money," says Sodergreen.
> Lay and his wife, Linda, were the biggest individual Texas contributors of
> soft money in the 2000 elections, giving a total of $361,000 with 96
> percent going to Republican candidates, according to figures compiled by
> the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
> Enron Corp. also topped the list of corporate soft money donors in Texas,
> with a total of $988,000 -- $248,000 to Democrats and $740,000 to
> Republicans.
> Houston energy analyst Matthew Simmons of Simmons & Co. International
> takes a dissident view. He doesn't think Lay would take the job of energy
> secretary.
> "He would have eight or 10 years ago, but not now," he says.
> Simmons says he has "lobbied hard" for the Secretary of Energy appointee
> in a Bush administration to be a Democrat.
> "It's a key appointment, and it needs to be bipartisan," he says. "We've
> so demagogued energy in the campaign. You have to reach across the aisle."
>
> Simmons says he has proposed either Bennett Johnston, a retired senior
> senator from Louisiana and a longtime Senate Energy Committee member, or
> David Boren, retired Oklahoma senator and "the other energy giant in
> Congress." Both are Democrats.
>
>
>  Copyright 2000 American City Business Journals Inc.
>
>