The WH's new/old political direction

The NY Times reviews Karl Rove's current status within the WH with the article, A Tough Road Ahead for the President's Closest Adviser.  

If the roles were reversed whereby the mid-term elections just repudiated the policies of a Democratic President, can you image the political firestorm that would be brewing around the WH? (Heck, the Democrats won resoundingly and yet people like Carville concocted reasons to snipe.)

Well, that's not how the Republicans reacted, at least not publicly. The article explains how the White House expects to change its political courses after the election...not!

This is kernel of the article:

Republicans close to the White House say Mr. Rove has been arguing that the White House needs to shore up its standing with conservatives, whose support will be crucial to rebuild Mr. Bush's popularity and ultimately give him some leverage.

My emphasis...can you imagine?  That's like trying to rebuild New Orleans after Katrina hit. The WH should be thinking survival now, not trying to regain the glory days.

Reflecting that strategy, Mr. Bush sent Congress a slate of conservative judicial nominees, which was taken as a provocation by Democrats who had previously rejected them. A close associate of Mr. Rove's suggested that the strategy was first to placate conservatives, then tack to the middle to strike deals with Democrats on immigration reform or Social Security.

Well, that IS a strategy but I think the attempt to placate conservatives will put the WH down two strikes before the first pitch is thrown--they're in a hole before they start to negotiate.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and a close ally of Mr. Rove's, said the best role for Mr. Rove would to be to help Republicans regain the House, the Senate and the presidency in 2008.

Excellent idea! Let's all petition the WH to keep Rove in charge of political strategy so that 2008 will be a redux of 2006!

Read the rest of the article. It sounds like the WH learned nothing from 2006 elections. Amazing. And it explains why  Bush's declaration of bipartisanship lasted, oh, about 30 minutes before he sent Bolton's name to the Senate.

It's interesting that this article is contrary to the news reports discussed in the Tom Ball diary, Rove May Leave Within Week.

So, will Rove be gone soon or will the WH stay the course on pandering to...um, placating...its right-wing conservative base?

My crystal ball reading: Republican 2008 hopefuls will compel change including a significant turnover in White House staff by next summer and Rove will be gone.

•  Which way do the winds blow?

  I expect the 2008 hopefuls will be lined up at the Oval Office door waiting to talk to Bush upon his return from Asia.  

  by sawgrass727 on Sat Nov 18, 2006 at 10:06:06 PM PDT

  •  Yeah, but not before one last "surge" in DC

    to accompanying the one in Iraq. I say Rove is benched or canned by August, or perhaps just eased out to begin consulting on the '08 races.

    by RudiB on Sat Nov 18, 2006 at 10:25:43 PM PDT

•  Also in the NYTimes

  This from Frank Rich's column (available by $ub$cription):

  Already we are seeing conclusive evidence that the White House’s post-thumpin’ blather about bipartisanship is worth as little as the “uniter, not a divider” bunk of the past. The tip-off came last week when Mr. Bush renominated a roster of choices for the federal appeals court that he knew faced certain rejection by Democrats. Why? To deliver a message to the entire Senate consonant with the unprintable greeting Dick Cheney once bestowed on Patrick Leahy, the senator from Vermont.

  Let's get rrrrrrrready to rumble!

  by RudiB on Sat Nov 18, 2006 at 10:22:07 PM PDT

•  Well, they're certainly trying to placate

  the base.  If I'm Rove, I don't see an upside to Bush doing anything else.

  What I mean is, I don't see why Rove would want Bush to placte the base and then move to the center .  Let the 2008 nominees do that.  Bush, at this point, has one job and one job only: appease the irate wingnuts.

  by LithiumCola on Sat Nov 18, 2006 at 10:44:01 PM PDT

•  Let's see...

  In the last few days we get:

  the family planning nomination of the anti-family planning guy

  the 15 minute trip to "oversee" the work of finding our MIAs in Vietnam

  the super-publicized church attendence to "support Christians in a Communist country"

  Ayup...  their after those missing evangelicals again

  by Blithedale on Sat Nov 18, 2006 at 10:49:16 PM PDT