Tony Snow being forced out, and racial controversy might follow him

It turns out that Fox News personality Tony Snow is being stabbed in the back by the very person that hired him.  White House sources told Reuters late Thursday night that the White House expects to get rid of their current Press Secretary sometime in the middle of next month.  White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton, who was responsible for hiring Snow in the first place, is looking for "a more forceful spokesman on the economy."  Reuters elaborated on who is rumored to replace Tony Snow:

The White House is narrowing its choices for a possible successor,with David Mulford, the U.S. ambassador to India, seen as a strongcontender, the sources said.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrezand ex-Commerce chief Don Evans, a close friend of President George W.Bush, are also among those whose names have been circulating for theTreasury position. Other possible contenders who have been mentionedinclude Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and former Bush economic adviserStephen Friedman.

The U.S. media have been abuzz with speculation that JoshBolten, who took over in April as White House chief of staff, wanted toreplace Snow with someone who could be a more forceful spokesman on theeconomy, preferably someone from Wall Street.

As if the latest round of tax cuts for the wealthy did not push Bush even further into bed with Wall Street bosses, the President now wants to cuddle up to big business even more by making one of them his next Press Secretary.

When it comes to Tony Snow, the former Fox News commentator has something else to worry about as well.  DeWayne Wickham of the Gannett News Service is calling on Mr. Snow to apologize to black Americans for unknowingly using a racial slur during his first press briefing.  The phrase "tar baby," which Snow used to dodge a question about the NSA wiretap program, is a slur sometimes used to describe blacks with darker skin.  "I don’t want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program," Snow said.  In his piece, Wickham did not conclude that Snow meant it to be racial; nonetheless, he did want Snow to correctly clarify himself to the black community since a number of blacks were deeply offended by it.

From a personal standpoint, I am actually surprised that the White House would want to get rid of a well-spoken word-smith like Snow.  He is the polar opposite of Scott McClellan, whose persuasive ability rivaled "Baghdad Bob."  Why is Josh Bolton giving up on his own choice for Press Secretary less than one month after he took the job?  Was there a fight between the two?  Or, quite simply, is Bolton still tinkering with staff changes to find the perfect team to bring up his boss's poll numbers?  If he is still tinkering, then it adds legitimacy to the worry among many GOP strategists that the White House does not have a clearly defined plan for their party heading into this fall's midterm election.  That is good news for Democrats.