Fabulous baker boys *.

• Position: OFF THE NEWS

You probably thought he was long gone from the Washington policy scene, but James A. Baker, III's occasional influence should not be underestimated. The former Reagan Administration Chief of Staff, Treasury Secretary, and Secretary of State has become the Republican Party's crisis manager in residence. If the stakes are high, they call in Jim Baker, who usually draws from among his small group of talented underlings from years past.

What is interesting now is that key members of Team Baker have found themselves dropped into several key slots in the Bush Administration hierarchy. Robert Zoellick, the former trade representative, is now Deputy Secretary of State and has assumed a wide portfolio including international economics. Zoellick's great gift is as a broad-based organizational strategist, more than a bit useful as the international institutions continue to come under pressure.

Robert Kimmitt, another Baker protege and a former U.S. foreign policy official, has been nominated to be Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Many Washington insiders say they would not be surprised if Kimmitt found himself drawn into the international...