What is it that makes Republican politicians retire after they have done irreparable damage to the party and not before? The Wall Street journal is reporting that Karl Rove will retire as George Bush’s political adviser on August 31st even though he considered doing so a year ago.
Karl Rove, President Bush’s longtime political adviser, is resigning as White House deputy chief of staff effective Aug. 31, and returning to Texas, marking a turning point for the Bush presidency.
Mr. Rove’s departure removes one of the White House’s most polarizing figures, and perhaps signals the effective end of the lame duck administration’s role in shaping major domestic policy decisions. Mr. Rove revealed his plans in an interview with Paul Gigot, editor of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page.
Mr. Rove, who has held a senior post in the White House since President Bush took office in January 2001, told Mr. Gigot he first floated the idea of leaving a year ago. But he delayed his departure as, first, Democrats took Congress, and then as the White House tackled debates on immigration and Iraq, he said. He said he decided to leave after White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day they would be obliged to remain through the end of the president’s term in January 2009.
Of course this could be a good sign for Republicans looking to distance themselves from President Bush but I don’t think it matters much outside of GW in reelection circles. The bigger damage would have come from White House actions that the left could have attributed to Rove if he had not left. I expect the “lingering policy” type conspiracy rants to hold sway from here on out.
Though not as loud of a forehead slap as was Rumsfeld’s resignation immediately after the 2006 election I can’t help but wonder if Rove’s departure would have made more sense, at least symbolically, had it been timed to coincide with the the course change in Iraq. It certainly would have helped had it occurred before President Bush commuted the jail time for Scooter Libby. From a legal position that may have not made sense for Mr. Rove or the White House however.
Rove gives an an answer of his own on why he waited until now.
“I just think it’s time,” he says, adding that he first floated the idea of leaving to Mr. Bush a year ago. His friends confirm he had been talking about it with others even earlier. But Democrats took Congress, and he didn’t want to depart on that sour note. He then thought he’d leave after the State of the Union, but the Iraq and immigration fights beckoned. Finally, Chief of Staff Josh Bolten told senior White House aides that if they stayed past a certain point, they were obliged to remain to Jan. 20, 2009. (src. Wall Street Journal
Uggh. Iraq and immigration? To say that both have been implemented from a White House perspective with less than stellar political wisdom would be the understatement of the century. If the failure to fight the War in Iraq and the war with the opposition party with a zeal to win wasn’t enough to hurt Republicans Rove reminds us of the White House stance on immigration. These failed political calculations have splintered the Republican party in a manner that will hurt the conservative base for decades to come.
I have never been a huge defender of Karl Rove. So now that he announces his resignation I can only wonder if his departure isn’t a year too late?
Others: Blogs of War, Michelle Malkin, Wizbang, Right Voices
Trackposted to Committees of Correspondence, DragonLady’s World, Pirate’s Cove, Wyvern dreams, The Bullwinkle Blog, High Desert Wanderer, Pursuing Holiness, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Republican, Karl Rove, White House, Texas, Bush, Paul Gigot
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