Meet The New Boss (Part 2)

I noticed that at least the Wikipedia page for Tom Schieffer hadn't been hastily-updated (beyond mention of his new appointment to oversee the Dodgers), in the days prior to the announcement. But while I was withholding judgment, Kevin Roderick found (via LA Weekly) that not the reviews have Schieffer have not been unanimously positive:

Update: Texas Monthly named Schieffer, then 27, one of the 10 worst legislators in Austin back in 1975.

Arrogant and--what is worse--ambitious. Gained abundant notoriety early in the session as the sponsor of a patently unfair presidential primary bill designed to boost the chances of Senator Lloyd Bentsen. His garbled mishandling of that affair could put him on the Ten Worst by itself, but he wins his spot by conspicuous lack of merit in every field.

"Actually he is furniture," said one lobbyist. "His mistake was in trying to be anything else." Said another: "He sits around and acts like he's thinking. The worst type of person is someone who's very ordinary and gets it into his head he's some sort of big shot." Said a high-ranking employee of a key state agency: "He's just not very capable. All he can do is turn red in the face and scream at you."

Have fun with that, Dodger front office employees. (Though to be fair, that was 36 years ago...)

Again, this was 36 years ago; I'm willing to give Schieffer a break here. He certainly has a lot of political experience on many fronts, so I'm hopeful that he can wade through the McCourt's swampy waters.

I did like Roderick's opening opinion, as well: "The right (air quotes) apology (end air quotes) written by a good crisis PR guru can solve most media image problems. Frank McCourt's path back to civic grace is tougher to see because in screwing up the Dodgers he didn't just disappoint, he offended." Better get your thigh-high boots on, Tom.

Earlier: Meet the New Boss