| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Ubiquitous" |
| Date: |
13 Aug 2007 09:54:57 PM |
| Object: |
'The Mark of Rove' |
BY PAUL A. GIGOT
Monday, August 13, 2007 6:15 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON--These are the days of Republican doubt, with President Bush
fighting an unpopular war, Congress in opposition hands, and a 2008
presidential field trailing Democrats in nearly every poll. But don't tell
that to Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's political alter ego, who even as he prepares to
resign from the White House after six and a half years sees recovery ahead.
Sitting in the book-lined living room of his townhome on Saturday afternoon, a
relaxed, cheerful and typically rambunctious Mr. Rove hands over two sheets of
paper on which he has tapped out a pair of outlines. One says "Up to Now," and
summarizes what he thinks are the achievements to date of the Bush presidency.
The second, "Months Ahead," lays out an agenda for the next year and a half.
"He will move back up in the polls," says Mr. Rove, who interrupts my
reference to Mr. Bush's 30% approval rating by saying it's heading close to
"40%," and "higher than Congress."
Looking ahead, he adds, "Iraq will be in a better place" as the surge
continues. Come the autumn, too, "we'll see in the battle over FISA"--the
wiretapping of foreign terrorists--"a fissure in the Democratic Party." Also
in the fall, "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.
As for the Democrats, "They are likely to nominate a tough, tenacious, fatally
flawed candidate" by the name of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Holding the White
House for a third term is always difficult given the pent-up desire for
change, he says, but "I think we've got a very good chance to do so."
If that quinella pays off, however, Mr. Rove will have to savor it from
somewhere other than his West Wing office. He's resigning effective Aug.
31--14 years after he began working with Mr. Bush on his campaign for Texas
governor, 10 years after they began planning a White House run, and after 79
months in the political cockpit of a tumultuous presidency.
"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.
"There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to
be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family," Mr. Rove says. His
son attends college in San Antonio, and he and his wife, Darby, plan to spend
much of their time at their home in nearby Ingram, in the Texas Hill Country.
Mr. Rove doesn't say, though others do, that this timing also allows him to
leave on his own terms. He has survived a probe by a remorseless special
counsel, and lately a subpoena barrage from Democrats for whom he is the great
white whale. He shows notable forbearance in declining to comment on
prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who dragged him through five grand jury
appearances. He won't even disclose his legal bills, except to quip that
"every one has been paid" and that "it was worth every penny."
What about those who say he's leaving to avoid Congressional scrutiny? "I know
they'll say that," he says, "But I'm not going to stay or leave based on
whether it pleases the mob." He also knows he'll continue to be a target, even
from afar, since belief in his influence over every Administration decision
has become, well, faith-based.
"I'm a myth. There's the Mark of Rove," he says, with a bemused air. "I read
about some of the things I'm supposed to have done, and I have to try not to
laugh." He says the real target is Mr. Bush, whom many Democrats have never
accepted as a legitimate president and "never will."
It is his long and personal relationship with Mr. Bush that has made Mr. Rove
arguably the most influential White House aide of modern times. The president
calls him to chat about politics on Sunday mornings, and they have a contest
to see who can read the most books. (Mr. Rove is winning.) I've known Mr. Rove
for 19 years and spoken to him hundreds of times. Yet I can't recall a single
instance where he disclosed how his views differed from Mr. Bush's. Mr. Bolten
hasn't decided on a replacement, and Mr. Rove's duties may yet be divided up.
Mr. Rove's political influence has been historic, notwithstanding the rout of
2006. His crucial insight in 2000 was recognizing that Mr. Bush had to be both
an alternative to Bill Clinton's scandalous behavior and "a different kind of
Republican." In 2002, the president's party gained seats in both the House and
Senate in a first midterm election for the first time since 1934.
And in 2004, for only the second time in history, a president won re-election
while helping his party gain seats in both houses of Congress; the other time
was 1936. Much has been made of John Kerry's ineptitude, but the senator won
some eight million more votes than Al Gore did in 2000, and Mr. Rove claims
Democrats outspent Republicans by $148 million thanks to billionaire donations
to "527" committees. Yet amid a difficult war, Mr. Bush won by increasing his
own vote by nearly 25% over 2000, winning 81% of U.S. counties. The Rove-Ken
Mehlman turnout effort was a spectacular achievement. If it did nothing else,
that 2004 victory put John Roberts and Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.
A big debate among Republicans these days is who bears more blame for
2006--Messrs. Bush and Rove, or the behavior of the GOP Congress. Mr. Rove has
no doubt. "The sense of entitlement was there" among Republicans, he says,
"and people smelled it." Yet even with a unified Democratic Party and the war,
he argues, it was "a really close election." The GOP lost the Senate by its
3,562 vote margin of defeat in Montana, and in the House the combined margin
in the 15 seats that cost control was 85,000 votes.
A prominent non-Beltway Republican recently gave me a different analysis,
arguing that the White House made a disastrous decision to "nationalize" the
election last autumn; this played into Democratic hands and cost numerous
seats.
"I disagree," Mr. Rove replies. "The election was nationalized. It was always
going to be about Iraq and the conduct of Republicans." He says Republican
Chris Shays and Independent-Democrat Joe Lieberman survived in Connecticut
despite supporting the war, while Republicans who were linked to corruption or
were complacent lost. His biggest error, Mr. Rove says, was in not working
soon enough to replace Republicans tainted by scandal.
What about that new GOP William McKinley-style majority he hoped to
build--isn't that now in tatters, as the country tilts leftward on security,
economics and the culture? Again, Mr. Rove disagrees. He says young people are
if anything more pro-life and free-market than older Americans, and that,
despite the difficulties in Iraq, the country doesn't want to be defeated
there or in the fight against Islamic terror. He recalls how Democrats thought
driving the U.S. out of Vietnam would also help them politically. "Instead,
Democrats have suffered ever since on national security," he says.
Mr. Rove also makes a spirited defense of this president's policy legacy,
sometimes more convincingly than others. On foreign affairs, he predicts that
at least two parts of the Bush Doctrine will live on: The policy that if you
harbor a terrorist, you are as culpable as the terrorist; and pre-emption.
"There may be a debate about degree," he says, "but it's going to be hard for
any president to reverse that."
He's less persuasive on Medicare, where he insists that market reforms and
health savings accounts are building a "critical mass" of popular support that
will make them unrepealable. Yet Democrats are even now trying to kill
Medicare Advantage, blocked only by the promise of a veto. If Mrs. Clinton
wins in 2008, the Medicare drug expansion may prove to have been all spending
and no reform.
He also insists that Social Security reform was worth the failed effort, and
that Mr. Bush's ideas will be adopted inevitably by some future president. I
ask if, given Mr. Bush's falling approval ratings in 2005 due to Iraq, he
shouldn't have pushed for something less ambitious. Not a chance. "You cannot
advance on the fronts you want to advance if you're playing mini-ball," he
says, once again sounding like Mr. Bush.
As for 2008, he says, Americans "do want change," but "every election is a
change election"; even in 1988, when Ronald Reagan was popular, the Gipper
famously said at the nominating convention for George H. W. Bush that, "We are
the change." Adds Mr. Rove, "I don't want to be Pollyanish about it, but if we
keep our nerve and represent big things, we'll win." He won't cite a favorite,
if he has one, among the GOP candidates, though he has friends in the various
campaigns. He'll offer advice, if asked, but at 56 years old says he is done
with political consulting.
He'd like to teach eventually, but he has no specific job plans, save to write
a book on the Bush years, which "the boss," as in Mr. Bush, "has encouraged me
to do." As for what his own White House mistakes have been, Mr. Rove winces
and says, "I'll put my feet up in September and think about that."
And what about Jeb Bush in 2012? Mr. Rove first says with a tone of
skepticism, "Ask Jeb." Then he adds, "You better get a younger man. My wife
would kill me."
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| User: "z" |
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| Title: Re: 'The Mark of Rove' |
14 Aug 2007 12:50:16 PM |
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On Aug 13, 10:54 pm, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
BY PAUL A. GIGOT
Monday, August 13, 2007 6:15 a.m. EDT
As for 2008, he says, Americans "do want change," but "every election is a
change election"; even in 1988, when Ronald Reagan was popular, the Gipper
famously said at the nominating convention for George H. W. Bush that, "We are
the change." Adds Mr. Rove, "I don't want to be Pollyanish about it, but if we
keep our nerve and represent big things, we'll win." He won't cite a favorite,
if he has one, among the GOP candidates, though he has friends in the various
campaigns. He'll offer advice, if asked, but at 56 years old says he is done
with political consulting.
C'mon Turdboy, don't hold back, give us your opinions.
Well, if you won't, try this:
"The face of the Republican Party in Iowa is the face of a losing
party, full of hatred toward immigrants, lust for government
subsidies, and the demand that any Republican seeking the office of
the presidency acknowledge that he's little more than Jesus Christ's
running mate. The pandering from the stage told the story. Mr. Romney
promised not a chicken in every pot, but "a button on every computer"
for parents to block obscene material. Anti-immigrant ranter Tom
Tancredo nearly brought the house down decrying the fact that
Americans sometimes have to "Press 1" for English. Mr. Huckabee earned
his second-place finish in part by making the specious claim that farm
subsidies safeguard America's food independence. (You think it's bad
depending on foreign oil, Mr. Huckabee asked? "Wait until our country
messes up and has to depend on foreign food.") Senator Brownback of
Kansas, the third-place finisher, declared as he often does in his
stump speech, quoting Mother Teresa: "All for Jesus. All for Jesus.
All for Jesus. All for Jesus."
This all may fly in Ames. But it won't in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
and the interior West, all of which will be battlegrounds in this
presidential election and for many elections to come."
http://www.nysun.com/article/60377
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| User: "Ubiquitous" |
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| Title: Re: 'The Mark of Rove' |
15 Aug 2007 11:40:22 AM |
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wrote:
On Aug 13, 10:54 pm, Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
BY PAUL A. GIGOT
Monday, August 13, 2007 6:15 a.m. EDT
As for 2008, he says, Americans "do want change," but "every election is a
change election"; even in 1988, when Ronald Reagan was popular, the Gipper
famously said at the nominating convention for George H. W. Bush that, "We
are the change." Adds Mr. Rove, "I don't want to be Pollyanish about it,
but if we keep our nerve and represent big things, we'll win." He won't
cite a favorite, if he has one, among the GOP candidates, though he has
friends in the various campaigns. He'll offer advice, if asked, but at 56
years old says he is done with political consulting.
C'mon Turdboy, don't hold back, give us your opinions.
In the same interview in which he announced his resignation, Karl Rove told
The Wall Street Journal's Paul Gigot that the Democrats "are likely to
nominate a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate" for president, one
Hillary Clinton. The Democrats' responses to Rove's departure show why he is
right. This is Barack Obama:
Karl Rove was an architect of a political strategy that has
left the country more divided, the special interests more
powerful, and the American people more shut out from their
government than any time in memory. But to build a new kind of
politics, it will take more than the departure of a man or even
an Administration that constructed the old--it will take a
movement of everyday Americans committed to changing Washington
and reclaiming their government.
And here's the lovely and talented one:
John Edwards today released the following statement in reaction
to President Bush's announcement that his senior advisor, Karl
Rove, will resign at the end of the month:
"Goodbye, good riddance."
Amazing. These guys want to be president of the United States, and they don't
realize how it diminishes them when they issue denunciations of the deputy
chief of staff. Mrs. Clinton, as far as we can tell, has not made that
mistake. Simply by keeping her opinion to herself, she looks like the only
serious candidate among the Democrats.
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| User: "Ubiquitous" |
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| Title: Re: 'The Mark of Rove' |
16 Aug 2007 08:52:02 PM |
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wrote:
In the same interview in which he announced his resignation, Karl Rove
told The Wall Street Journal's Paul Gigot that the Democrats "are
likely to nominate a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate" for
president, one Hillary Clinton. The Democrats' responses to Rove's
departure show why he is right. This is Barack Obama:
Karl Rove was an architect of a political strategy that has
left the country more divided, the special interests more
powerful, and the American people more shut out from their
government than any time in memory. But to build a new kind of
politics, it will take more than the departure of a man or even
an Administration that constructed the old--it will take a
movement of everyday Americans committed to changing Washington
and reclaiming their government.
And here's the lovely and talented one:
John Edwards today released the following statement in reaction
to President Bush's announcement that his senior advisor, Karl
Rove, will resign at the end of the month:
"Goodbye, good riddance."
Amazing. These guys want to be president of the United States, and they
don't realize how it diminishes them when they issue denunciations of
the deputy chief of staff. Mrs. Clinton, as far as we can tell, has
not made that mistake. Simply by keeping her opinion to herself, she
looks like the only serious candidate among the Democrats.
Well, as it turns out, she did have something to say about Rove, in an
interview conducted Monday and published yesterday morning with NBC's
Andrea Mitchell:
Mitchell: I do have to ask you, because Karl Rove in a parting
shot said that you are fatally flawed as a candidate.
Mrs. Clinton: Well, aren't we glad to see him go, I think is
the answer to that. You know, I am thrilled to be running this
campaign, and to be getting the response that I'm getting all
over the country. I was in Pahrump, Nevada, just today, earlier.
2,500 people. I feel very good about where I am.
Still, there's quite a difference between the approach of Mrs. Clinton,
who made an offhand comment in response to a question about Rove's
comments about her and quickly changed the subject, and those of Barack
Obama and John Edwards, who rushed to issue formal statements denouncing
the White House deputy chief of staff.
--
It is simply breathtaking to watch the glee and abandon with which
the liberal media and the Angry Left have been attempting to turn
our military victory in Iraq into a second Vietnam quagmire. Too bad
for them, it's failing.
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| User: "z" |
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| Title: Re: 'The Mark of Rove' |
17 Aug 2007 10:05:33 AM |
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On Aug 15, 12:40 pm, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
gzuck...@snail-mail.net wrote:
On Aug 13, 10:54 pm, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
BY PAUL A. GIGOT
Monday, August 13, 2007 6:15 a.m. EDT
As for 2008, he says, Americans "do want change," but "every election is a
change election"; even in 1988, when Ronald Reagan was popular, the Gipper
famously said at the nominating convention for George H. W. Bush that, "We
are the change." Adds Mr. Rove, "I don't want to be Pollyanish about it,
but if we keep our nerve and represent big things, we'll win." He won't
cite a favorite, if he has one, among the GOP candidates, though he has
friends in the various campaigns. He'll offer advice, if asked, but at 56
years old says he is done with political consulting.
C'mon Turdboy, don't hold back, give us your opinions.
In the same interview in which he announced his resignation, Karl Rove told
The Wall Street Journal's Paul Gigot that the Democrats "are likely to
nominate a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate" for president, one
Hillary Clinton. The Democrats' responses to Rove's departure show why he is
right. This is Barack Obama:
Karl Rove was an architect of a political strategy that has
left the country more divided, the special interests more
powerful, and the American people more shut out from their
government than any time in memory. But to build a new kind of
politics, it will take more than the departure of a man or even
an Administration that constructed the old--it will take a
movement of everyday Americans committed to changing Washington
and reclaiming their government.
And here's the lovely and talented one:
John Edwards today released the following statement in reaction
to President Bush's announcement that his senior advisor, Karl
Rove, will resign at the end of the month:
"Goodbye, good riddance."
Amazing. These guys want to be president of the United States, and they don't
realize how it diminishes them when they issue denunciations of the deputy
chief of staff. Mrs. Clinton, as far as we can tell, has not made that
mistake. Simply by keeping her opinion to herself, she looks like the only
serious candidate among the Democrats.
Well, that's it, then. Nobody's going to win the Presidency in 2008
without getting the stamp of approval from Karl Rove.
.
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| User: "CHUCK MARTIN" |
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| Title: Re: 'The Mark of Rove' |
17 Aug 2007 02:54:54 PM |
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rove the snake and street filth is the face of the republi con party
"z" <gzuckier@snail-mail.net> wrote in message
news:1187363133.619026.85660@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 15, 12:40 pm, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
gzuck...@snail-mail.net wrote:
On Aug 13, 10:54 pm, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
BY PAUL A. GIGOT
Monday, August 13, 2007 6:15 a.m. EDT
As for 2008, he says, Americans "do want change," but "every election
is a
change election"; even in 1988, when Ronald Reagan was popular, the
Gipper
famously said at the nominating convention for George H. W. Bush that,
"We
are the change." Adds Mr. Rove, "I don't want to be Pollyanish about
it,
but if we keep our nerve and represent big things, we'll win." He
won't
cite a favorite, if he has one, among the GOP candidates, though he
has
friends in the various campaigns. He'll offer advice, if asked, but at
56
years old says he is done with political consulting.
C'mon Turdboy, don't hold back, give us your opinions.
In the same interview in which he announced his resignation, Karl Rove
told
The Wall Street Journal's Paul Gigot that the Democrats "are likely to
nominate a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate" for president, one
Hillary Clinton. The Democrats' responses to Rove's departure show why he
is
right. This is Barack Obama:
Karl Rove was an architect of a political strategy that has
left the country more divided, the special interests more
powerful, and the American people more shut out from their
government than any time in memory. But to build a new kind of
politics, it will take more than the departure of a man or even
an Administration that constructed the old--it will take a
movement of everyday Americans committed to changing Washington
and reclaiming their government.
And here's the lovely and talented one:
John Edwards today released the following statement in reaction
to President Bush's announcement that his senior advisor, Karl
Rove, will resign at the end of the month:
"Goodbye, good riddance."
Amazing. These guys want to be president of the United States, and they
don't
realize how it diminishes them when they issue denunciations of the
deputy
chief of staff. Mrs. Clinton, as far as we can tell, has not made that
mistake. Simply by keeping her opinion to herself, she looks like the
only
serious candidate among the Democrats.
Well, that's it, then. Nobody's going to win the Presidency in 2008
without getting the stamp of approval from Karl Rove.
.
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| User: "z" |
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| Title: Re: 'The Mark of Rove' |
20 Aug 2007 01:43:43 PM |
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On Aug 17, 3:54 pm, "CHUCK MARTIN" <res8e...@verizon.net> wrote:
rove the snake and street filth is the face of the republi con party
Evidence that Satan is lying when he says he never met the Pillsbury
Doughboy.
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| User: "CHUCK MARTIN" |
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| Title: Re: 'The Mark of Rove' |
20 Aug 2007 02:28:00 PM |
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"z" <gzuckier@snail-mail.net> wrote in message
news:1187635423.743853.256010@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.com...
On Aug 17, 3:54 pm, "CHUCK MARTIN" <res8e...@verizon.net> wrote:
rove the snake and street filth is the face of the republi con party
Evidence that Satan is lying when he says he never met the Pillsbury
Doughboy.
nothing can change the fact that snake rove is and has always been a
underhanded dirty pool liar for political candidates and rove is a lying
rock crawling reptile who has fucked america along with the rest of the
filthiest administration in history. thats why republi cons are done,
finished, finito
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