ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 19, 1996 TAG: 9612190047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
President Clinton revamped the upper reaches of his White House staff Wednesday, replacing a cadre of campaign heroes with newly promoted advisers loyal to incoming chief of staff Erskine Bowles.
As the president turned his focus to four remaining Cabinet vacancies, Bowles promised that the staff will hum with the efficiency of a business.
``I have set about to build a team of sharp minds but not sharp elbows,'' he said.
But the road to Wednesday's appointments demonstrated that Bowles can throw an elbow or two: He nudged out the current deputy chiefs of staff, Harold Ickes and Evelyn Lieberman. They will be replaced by veteran political troubleshooter John Podesta and 31-year-old Treasury official Sylvia Mathews.
Bowles, an investment banker from North Carolina, made a total of seven appointments - mostly male, relatively young and all white. Their average age is barely 40. The group is a reflection of the politically moderate Bowles, and some Democrats privately worry that Clinton's channels to the liberal community are closing.
George Stephanopoulos, a voice for the party's left wing, is moving on. Columbia University's newest professor has signed lucrative book and television contracts.
Stephanopoulos' tiny but coveted warren near the Oval Office was handed to Rahm Emanuel, a special projects coordinator in the first term who helped Clinton dodge political land mines on welfare, immigration and crime. Emanuel, 37, will be the president's new free-ranging adviser.
No one person will replace Stephanopoulos, who enjoyed a uniquely close relationship with Clinton and mastered the intersection of politics and policy.
Doug Sosnik, 40, the White House political director who reported to Ickes, will help Emanuel fill the Stephanopoulos vacuum. Named counselor to the president, Sosnik inherits an open-ended portfolio on politics and media affairs.
Clinton hoped to round out his Cabinet selections Friday, naming secretaries of transportation, labor, housing and energy.
Federal Highway Administrator Rodney Slater, an Arkansan, is Clinton's choice at Transportation, barring a last-minute hitch.
White House aide Alexis Herman and Rep. Esteban Torres, D-Calif., are vying for Labor. Andrew Cuomo, an assistant secretary at HUD and son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, has watched his stock rise in recent days for the HUD job.
Former Missouri Rep. Alan Wheat is mentioned for both the HUD and Labor positions.
At energy, prospects include Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Elizabeth Moler and Chang-Lin Tien, chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley.
Clinton did not appear at Bowles' conference, but stood on the other side of the briefing room door and congratulated his new chief of staff on the way out.
Bowles also announced that:
* Victoria Radd, 39, deputy communications director at the White House, will be Bowles' chief of staff. Aides expect Radd to help Bowles navigate Washington's political storms.
* Jim Steinberg, 43, Secretary of State Warren Christopher's chief of staff, will be deputy to national security adviser Sandy Berger.
* Gen. Donald Kerrick, 47, an official at the Defense Intelligence Agency, will be deputy assistant to the president and manage daily operations of the national security council.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Appointed Wednesday to the White House staff areby CNB(from left) Sylvia Mathews, Rahm Emanuel, Doug Sosnik, Victoria Radd
and Jim Steinberg.