By Brigitte L. Nacos
In their fascinating book Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove
Made George W. Bush Presidential, James Moore and Wayne Slater write that
“without Karl Rove, there would be no President George W. Bush.” According to
the authors, the brilliant and ruthless campaign consultant Rove, who has had long
ties to the Bush family, was instrumental in George W.’s gubernatorial and
presidential campaigns. When he moved into the White House, he became President
George W. Bush’s permanent political consultant and, as befitting for “Bush’s
Brain,” something like a co-president. Now, after several top White House aides
have left their posts already, Rove announced his departure in an interview
with Paul. A. Gigot, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page
editor. But although under clouds for his role in the CIA leak case and, as
today’s Washington
Post put it, “under scrutiny by the new Democratic Congress for his
role in the firings of U.S. attorneys and in a series of political briefings
provided to various agencies across government,” Rove is upbeat with respect to President Bush’s
remaining time in office and the chances of the Republican Party in the 2008
presidential election. While insisting that he is through with political
consulting, Rove is already thinking ahead to 2008 telling Gigot, “if we keep
our nerve and represent big things, we'll win." Jim VandeHei and Mike
Allen write in The
Politico, “In happier days, friends expected Rove to serve — whether
in government or not — as the liaison between Bush and the ’08 GOP
presidential nominee. Now Rove recognizes the nominee needs to be his own man,
with separation from an unpopular administration, so any role he plays will be
very behind the scenes according to colleagues.” In other words, while not
signing on with another presidential campaign, Rove is likely to play some role
in the GOP and the campaign of his party’s presidential nominee.
Before Rove announced his departure, he was obviously involved in the White House scheme that forced Democrats in the Senate and House to vote on the controversial “Protect America Act of 2007, an update of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), by invoking once again the politics of post-9/11 fear. This was not only a tactic to exploit Democrats’ fear to be labeled as weak on terrorism but also to disunite the opposition party. Rove told Gigot that in fall "we'll see in the battle over FISA a fissure in the Democratic Party." He also predicts that in autumn, ‘the budget fight will have been fought to our advantage,’ helping the GOP restore, through a series of presidential vetoes, its brand name on spending restraint and taxes.” In other words, the Democrats will be maligned as “tax and spend” liberals. Rove picks Hillary Clinton as the likely Democratic presidential contender, calls her a “tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate," and believes that the GOP “got a very good chance” to hold on to the White House. Seems that for Rove, the road to the 2008 elections is a cake walk: Attack Senator Clinton as "fatally flawed" (perhaps with some "Swift Boat" tricks thrown in?) and the GOP will win.
As for a White House without “Bush’s Brain,” there were quick assurances that Karl Rove will remain one of this president’s closest friends. Moreover, there is the other co-president—Richard Cheney. Call it
good timing that the same Paul Gigot, who broke the news of Rove’s departure, was also last weekend’s host of the "The Journal Editorial Report” TV-program that took “an in-depth look at one of history's most powerful and controversial vice presidents.” The question now is whether the departure of Rove will result in power shifts within the White House and administration and thus work in favor of the Vice-President’s influence in the Oval Office at a time, when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has reportedly President Bush’s ear in foreign policy and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in defense policy.
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