I have to tell you that I have a different take on why Rove is resigning. He might very well trying to avoid the new sheriffs in town. However, I think that it is more to do with shoring up the GOP party in Texas. Right now, it is falling apart. The chinks started in 2006, when Dallas county flipped their judicial seats democratic. This is DALLAS COUNTY! It has been Republican forever.
Here is a diary that I did for another blog.
MKC
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.
He is giving the usual reason of spending more time with his family. That Josh Bolten, Bush’s chief of staff, says anyone who stays past Labor Day has to stay until Bush’s end of term. What a crock! Rove can leave when he wants. I don’t think that he is leaving, because he is afraid of congressional investigations. They are running the clock out on that. So why is he really leaving?
Mr. Rove established himself as the political genius behind the rise of George W. Bush and the brief period of united Republican rule. But he did it largely through highly divisive policies and campaign tactics, such as the attacks on Democratic rival John Kerry the 2004 campaign. That strategy appears to have backfired, as seen in the Republican loss of Congress in 2006, and Mr. Bush's low poll numbers.
http://online.wsj.com/...
Right now, the Texas GOP is sinking. Cornyn is unpopular. His seat ripe for a pick up. Rove is probably still reeling from the flipping of the judgeships in Dallas county. All things being equal, some of the judicial seats in Harris county will be going Democratic. Especially the one that Jim Sharp is running for. He got 49.5% of the vote in 2006!
You got Susan Criss running for a seat on the Texas Supreme Court. I know Susan. She runs to win. Her first primary, she ran against two established democrats. They predicted that she wouldn’t even get to the run off. She won the primary.
Getting ready for the general election, the incumbent judge died. He was replaced by a George W. Bush appointee. She was told that she ran a good race, but to pack it in. That she couldn’t win this race against a Bush appointed incumbent. Well, needless to say, she said no thank you and went on to win the seat. Now she is running for Supreme Court Justice. She is a formidable opponent. She runs great campaigns. She has a great chance to win.
We are also seeing various representative and senate districts come into play. Joe Jaworski is a talented and ambitious and will win. We are going to get that seat. And frankly, I think people are just tired of the republican party. They haven’t done anything, but harm to the state.
So why do I think Rove is coming back? He is coming back to shore up his political machine in Texas. This has been the base of power for the neoconservatives. If the Texas GOP loses here, it is a clear sign that the party is a failure. We are going to be in for a very bumpy and wild election season!
MKC