Fresh blow to lame-duck Bush

Fresh blow to lame-duck Bush
By Andrew Ward in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: August 14 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 14 2007 03:00


Karl Rove was a founding member of the close-knit group of Texan political operatives who helped propel George W. Bush first to the state governorship and then to the White House.

Yesterday, he became the latest of the so-called "Texas Mafia" to leave the Bush administration, after more than six years as one of the most powerful and polar-ising figures in US politics.

Mr Rove's departure at the end of this month completes a radical transformation of the White House staff since Andrew Card was replaced by Josh Bolten as chief of staff last year.

He is the third long-serving Texan adviser to quit the administration since January, when Harriet Miers stepped down as Mr Bush's legal counsel.

Dan Bartlett, who rivalled Mr Rove as Mr Bush's closest and most trusted aide, resigned as White House counsellor in June. Another senior departure came last month when Rob Portman, one of Mr Bush's leading economic advisers, stepped down as budget director.

Political commentators said the exodus was not un-usual for an administration nearing its seventh year. "They have stayed together for longer than most administrations," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist.

But the break-up of the original Bush team symbolises the sense of disintegration surrounding his presidency in recent months.

The Democratic takeover of Congress in the mid-term elections, combined with the growing unpopularity of the Iraq war, has turned Mr Bush - who has 17 months of his term remaining - into a lame-duck president.

John Fortier, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, says the Republican defeat last year robbed Mr Rove of his primary role in the administration. "His job was to work with the Republican Congress in pushing forward the Bush agenda. But since the mid-term election, his role has been limited to keeping enough Republicans in line to block Democratic proposals," he said. "Rove's ambitions have always been bigger than that."

Analysts said Mr Rove's departure would increase the importance of Mr Bolten and Ed Gillespie, the veteran strategist and lobbyist who replaced Mr Bartlett as White House counsellor.

"Ed Gillespie is a very fine political mind who is likely to play an enhanced role in White House deliberations," said Mr Ayres. "But there's no way to replace Karl Rove, because his breadth of political and policy experience and his relationship with the president are unmatched."

Mr Rove said he would leave next month for a duck-hunting trip in Texas. He wanted to write a book on the Bush presidency - with the president's approval.

Standing next to Mr Bush yesterday, his voice quivering with emotion, he said he had been weighing his fu-ture for a year. "It's not been an easy decision," he said. "It always seemed there was a better time to leave somewhere out there in the future. But now is the time."