Ariz. Chief Puts Name and Face Front and Center

Lisa Graham Keegans face rolls into focus on the Arizona education departments home page on the World Wide Web. The agencys chief policy document is the "Lisa Graham Keegan Plan for Education in Arizona." And barely three months into her job as state schools superintendent, Ms. Keegan called reporters in for a briefing on the accomplishments of her first 100 days.

"That's Lisa," said B. Kay Lybeck, the president of the 30,000-member Arizona Education Association, with a wry smile. "Her name, her face, and her comment are all the same thing. She doesn't just put things out into the ether. Her name and face will be on it--she's very good at that."

The pushing and positioning have made Ms. Keegan, a former Republican state legislator, a familiar presence here in Arizona. The Phoenix Gazette newspaper tagged her in May as the Republicans' strongest candidate for governor in 1998. After Ms. Keegan's election as state chief in 1994, political observers agree that she's got "good numbers"--high name-recognition and approval ratings among voters in...