A Giant Exits The Stage
According to this article, Karl Rove is resigning his post at the end of this month. It’s a sad day for Republicans.
Karl Rove, President Bush’s longtime political adviser, is resigning as White House deputy chief of staff effective Aug. 31, and returning to Texas, he said in an interview with Paul Gigot, editor of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page.
Many are throwing pitchforks at him because of 2006 but I’d say that Rove’s election record prior to that was pretty amazing. He engineered an unimaginable electoral victory in 2002. He masterminded President Bush’s re-election campaign. So impressive was Mr. Rove that Dick Morris once said about the race between President Bush and Sen. Kerry that it was like watching a checkers player (Sen. Kerry) play against a chess grand master (Rove). Coming from someone who worked with Bill Clinton, that’s indeed high praise.
Here’s some analysis that I don’t think Democrats will like:
Mr. Rove also said he expects the president’s approval rating to rise again, and that conditions in Iraq will improve as the U.S. military surge continues. He said he expects Democrats to be divided this fall in the battle over warrantless wiretapping, while the budget battle, and a series of presidential vetoes, should help Republicans gain an edge on spending restraint and taxes.
I totally agree with Rove’s analysis. The FISA debate already has the Nutroots furious at Pelosi Inc. The surge is working, which is painting Democrats into a corner in terms of options. Finally, a series of presidential vetoes will cause commotion and confusion in Washington this fall. Democrats will want to fight but Republicans will be energized by President Bush’s vetoes.
Finally, what I’ll recall most about Mr. Rove is that he had a great mind in terms of how policies affected politics. The man is a wonk but he’s also got a great political mind. That’s a rare combination, which is why he’s so revered within the Bush administration.
Another noteworthy Rove accomplishment is his designing the current GOP GOTV model. Following the 2000 election, President Bush told Rove to put together a plan that would bring victory in 2004. Rove first tested the plan in Georgia in 2002, then unleashed it to the world in 2004. Bush’s talk about tax cuts, killing terrorists and nominating sane judges rightfully get most of the credit for Bush’s victory but only a fool would think that it was accident that Bush’s vote total jumped by almost 23 percent. That’s a pretty efficient GOTV model, one which will stand the test of time.
I hope at some time that Rove returns to politics, especially as chairman of the RNC. I’d hate to think that we’ve seen the last of Mr. Rove’s high-profile activism.
Technorati Tags: Karl Rove, President Bush, RNC, GOTV
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
August 13th, 2007 at 5:21 am
[...] Cross-posted at California Conservative Categories: Military, Midterm Elections, Presidential Elections, Iraq, President Bush, Taxes, Rove, Judicial Nominees, Activism | [...]
August 13th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Goodbye Karl Rove…
The Presiden’t chief political adviser is resigning. Will AP now give us an update on the contents of Rove’s garage? Inquiring minds want to know. Jason Leopold will now have to find honest work, that’s for sure….
August 13th, 2007 at 7:14 am
… but who will haunt their nightmares now?…
Yes, it’s true. The day that so many liberals wished and hoped for has finally come. Well, almost. Karl Rove, White House political advisor and sometimes eater of left-wing souls, has announced that he will resign at the end of August. It is a bi…
August 13th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Well, there goes St. George. Whose going to slay the dragons now?
August 13th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Rove?s Legacy…
A roundup of thoughts on Karl Rove?s legacy, from comments on NYTimes.com and around the Web….
August 13th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
A giant what?
Moreover, why is Rove cutting and running?
There is, of course, more to this story. Between the US attorney scandal, Rove’s violation of the Hatch Act, the Abramhoff scandal… the list of indictable crimes goes on and on. Perhaps getting while the getting is good? We should expect a deal between the Cabal and Congress to be announced once the presnit is back from his annual August vacation.
August 13th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
What A.G. scandal? Oh, yeah, the one the donkeys created to keep everyones’ minds off the “do-less-than-nothing” Congress and off the outrageous privacy the donkeys want for their earmarks. Transparency my hindside!
Have not a clue what you’re talking about with the Hatch Act.
And the ranking donkeys that weren’t also tainted by Abramhoff have their own sets of scandals the MSM doesn’t want to deal with, to wit, things like illegal land deals in Nevada, military payoffs in CA, the “Big Dig” (into taxpayers pockets to pay off a few contractors), the fact Murtha is still an “unindicted co-conspirator, etc., etc.
Rocky, there is none so blind as he who will not see. Wake up and smell the rot that Clinton left in 2001. It infected BOTH parties.
IT’S THE POLITICIANS, STUPID! Not the “cabal” or the elephants or just he and thee, it’s the stinking system we, the people were too occupied to pay attention to and the thieves and scoundrels we keep electing are stealing us blind, from the prez and his “cabal” to the leadership of both parties to the stinking lobbyists (corporate and “non-corporate”, like the unions and greens).
August 14th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
What AG scandal?
No, really… you don’t think Rove’s involvement with the politicization of the entire government mechanism charged with enforcing the rule of law qualifies as a scandal?
And here’s the meat of the argument regarding Rove’s violation of the Hatch Act:
But I’ve got to hand it to you Carlos; sliding that reference to Bubba and the rotten odor. I really didn’t think that you’d attempt to blame the current gutter-level politics on Clinton, but there you go.
Of course, that assumes that I think we’re at a level that would qualify as gutter, but I can’t fit that in with the idea that a campaign would push-poll against one of their own, going so far as to suggest the opponent had an illegitimate racially diverse offspring. I understood it when they used the tactic on Ann Richards (and her *all lesbian* staff); she was from the other side. Gutter level? No, that would be an impossible stretch upwards from the level of poltical discourse today.
And besides, didn’t you tell me recently that I should just get over the 2000 election? Put it behind me… well, physician, heal thyself.
August 15th, 2007 at 9:52 am
Well, Duh!
The Presidency is after all a political office and Rove is hardly the first Chief of Staff or Political advisor that got involved in (gasp) politics.
I have to agree with Rocky, nonetheless, to a point, that some of these firings of Federal Attorneys do have some strange coincidences; the firing of the San Diego DA after she successfully, prosecuted Randy Cunningham for example.
And as far as the countercharge that Clinton fired all of them from the git go; well, maybe thats what Bush should have done as well. Look, tinkering around with judicial officials has a long traition (Marbury vs Madison) and no matter how much we appreciate Marshalls logical and eloquent opinion in that case, it was still quite political in its premis.
However, lets be real about something else, how much of that was Roves doing, if any? So why are we not surprised by the grandstanding, and the witch hunt put on by Waxman, Leahy, Schumer and that bunch of goons. Beause its getting to be common practice ad nauseatum. There not may be anything here, but what the hell, lets make something of it anyway, so the media can start another drum beat and we can see how many dumb and ignorant we can impress with ourselves.
Neither side has much much to be proud of far as I can see.
August 15th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
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