It should have been a time for rejoicing. The man who sought and thrived on divisive politics came to an early end, with rumors of Abramof indictments and worse swinging over his head like a pendulum from Edgar Allan Poe. As much as we would like to celebrate the resignation of Karl Rove, now is not the time.
Karl Rove, aka “Bush’s brain,” may have made Bush what he is but he also plays a major role in bringing the President down.
In the end, Rove became more liability than asset.
Consider this: The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency are supposed to be two of the lead government organizations probing terrorist activity.
But a new report says the two agencies are, in fact, hindering probes.
Rapidly-fading Presidential wannabe John McCain says last weekend’s Iowa straw poll is “meaningless.”
What else can you say when you come in 10th? Claiming the vote where you got your butt kicked is “meaningless” is about the only spin left.
And this man thought he had what it took to be President?
The snake oil sales team called the U.S. Congress claimed recently passed ethics legislation would curtail the impact of special interest and big money on the political systems.
Uh huh. So why are party fundraisers selling face time with big wigs as part of the package deal to top dollar donors?
Because with or without “ethics reform,” it’s business as usual in Washington.
The resignation of Karl Rove, architect of President George W. Bush’s election triumphs and a crucial behind-the-scenes policy guru, is the latest sign of the White House’s diminished agenda and shattered dreams of a Republican super-majority, analysts said.
Rove, the last and most prominent of Bush’s inner circle of Texas advisers to quit the administration, leaves a lame-duck president suffering from low approval ratings, an unpopular war in Iraq and public rejection in the 2006 elections.
With Democrats in control of Congress and brimming with optimism about the 2008 White House race, Rove’s talk of a lasting and historic shift to Republican dominance seems long ago.
Late-night conference calls, Sundays spent in the office and a diet served in takeout bags are the hallmarks of the final weeks of a presidential primary campaign.
They’re already the norm in the early voting states of New Hampshire and Iowa — and it’s only August.
“We think it’s nonstop now?” says Mike Dennehy, Sen. John McCain’s national political director. “Once we hit Labor Day, it’s going to be blazing fast.”
They say in Washington that no one’s indispensable, but for the Bush White House Karl Rove comes close. Now, in another blow the White House didn’t really need, Rove has announced that he is resigning at the end of the month and returning to Texas.
The White House didn’t even try to put a good face on it. “Obviously, it’s a big loss for us,” said deputy press secretary Dana Perino.
The Iowa Straw Poll has left the Republican presidential contest as crowded and chaotic as the carnival-like crowd scene outside the building where the votes were cast.
As expected, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the most votes in Saturday’s symbolic test of campaign organizing strength in this first-in-the-nation caucus state.
But in the more critical expectations game, there were so many other declarations of victory that the GOP field is likely to stay as muddled as ever.
The need to save money has always been the main justification used by the Pentagon to sell Congress on the politically unpopular task of closing military bases no longer needed by the military.
But the latest round of closings is doing anything but cutting costs. The estimate for the price tag for closing or realigning more than 200 bases and installations was pegged at $21 billion when Congress approved the plan in 2005.