W.'s Man in Michigan - Michigan governor and George W. Bush supporter John Engler

National Review, Feb 21, 2000 by John J. Miller

Would he take the job himself? "I'll wait until somebody asks before I respond to that question," he says. The consensus among friends and colleagues is that he would accept if Bush came calling, but that he doesn't want the job as much as he did four years ago. His wife is said to be reluctant to leave Michigan. And Engler probably wouldn't settle for anything less than veep. "There is no cabinet post that would give him more satisfaction than being governor of Michigan," says Richard McClellan, a Lansing lawyer and one of Engler's closest friends.

Perhaps the Mackinac Center's Reed puts it best: "It used to be you could tell Engler was getting serious about a campaign when he dropped weight. He did that in 1990 and then in 1996. He's not doing it now."

If Bush wants Engler to join him in Washington, he may just have to draft him.