A growing chorus of senior GOP figures are calling for Bush to enact "sacrifices" and "major shake ups of his senior staff and Cabinet" to get fresh blood, a fresh team, and a fresh start. Notice key word fresh as opposed to rotten.
Richard Viquerie, Pat Buchanan, William Buckley yesterday joined Trent Lott and William Niskanen who on Tuesday were highly critical of senior White House Staff and specifically Karl Rove. A behinds the scenes wildfire is spreading in the GOP to get Karl Rove, Andy Card and others out of the White House. "George Bush may be willing to gamble his future and the White House on the Hunkerdown and Fight it Out Strategy, but the rest of the GOP will not!" They want a "Fresh Team with a Fresh Start" to focus on a "New Positive Agenda For America" and Bush's second term.
Oldtime GOP fund raiser
Richard Viquerie said yesterday "
in order to jump-start the final 3 years of his presidency, President Bush not only needs to push conservative programs and policies, but he needs a major shake-up in his White House staff and his Cabinet.
As conservatives said in the Reagan years, "personnel is policy." The President should move quickly to replace his Massachusetts moderate Chief-of-Staff, Andy Card, with someone who is a principled conservative.
Viquerie official website also left no doubt has to why the hard right wing conservative GOP is so angry at Bush but blame Rove.
A new online poll of 5,074 grass roots conservative activists and donors show that President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has driven a wedge between him and his conservative base, according to ConservativeHQ.com Chairman Richard Viguerie.
Fifty-one percent of the conservatives are so angry with President Bush and congressional leaders that they say they probably will reduce their grassroots work and contributions for Republican candidates in 2006.
"Conservatives have suffered silently, biting their tongues, as Bush broke promise after promise by governing mostly from the center or left of center," Viguerie said. "Bush massively grew the size of government (e.g. prescription drug plan), greatly increased federal spending, promised amnesty for illegal aliens and appointed only a few conservatives to important positions."
"We tolerated all of this because he promised that he would appoint conservatives in the mold of Scalia and Thomas to the Supreme Court," said Viguerie. "With the Miers nomination, on top of every other betrayal, conservatives feel they've been sucker-punched, and this survey indicates many will respond by sitting out the 2006 election, much as they did following the first President George Bush's broken promises."
By nominating Miers to the Supreme Court, 54 percent said that Bush "did not keep his campaign promise" to appoint justices in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, according to the survey. And only 31 percent believe Bush is "governing as a conservative," while 69 percent said he is governing as a moderate or as a liberal.
Asked to grade Bush on various issues, conservatives gave him a D for "controlling government spending." On controlling illegal immigration, Bush received a D- and 27 percent gave him a D or an F on "overall grade as President".
And when questioned about the GOP-controlled Congress, 80 percent said they were either "disappointed or angry," and deserved a grade of D+.
This rising anger appears likely to translate into major problems for the GOP in the 2006 mid-term election:
- AmongAmong those identified as donors, 25 percent said they would reduce their financial support in 2006, and 27 percent said they would end.
- 49 percent were disappointed in GOP Congressional leaders and another 25 percent want them replaced.
- 70 percent said they would support "a principled conservative candidate running against an establishment Republican incumbent" in the 2006 primary, with an additional 22 percent unsure. Only 8 percent would support an establishment incumbent.
Viguerie said, "With numbers like that it will be very difficult for the GOP to maintain control of the House and, unless something changes, the Senate could change hands as well."
Yesterday her at kos a bunch of us were predicting this at Why Rove Will Resign Even If Not Indicted
and in my diary on Monday I anticipated
Three White House Resignation Strategies
But things are heating up even faster than we thought.
Terrence Hunt, AP White House Correspondent tells us
White House rebuffs calls for shakeup and apology
Three days after the indictment and resignation of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, the administration said it would have to remain silent as long as there was an investigation of the leak and legal proceeding under way. Bush ignored reporters' questions during an Oval Office meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
"We don't want to do anything from here that could prejudice the opportunity for there to be a fair and impartial trial," presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Friday's indictment of I. Lewis Libby and the continuing investigation of Rove were a blow to Bush's already troubled presidency. The president's approval rating has tumbled to the lowest point since he took office and Americans are unhappy about high energy prices, the costly war in Iraq and economic uncertainties.
Republicans and Democrats alike have urged Bush to begin remaking his presidency by bringing in fresh advisers with new energy to replace members of a team worn down by years of campaigning and governing. But administration officials said that was not in the works.
Cheney promoted two of his advisers to fill the jobs handled by Libby, his confidant. David Addington, who has been the vice president's legal counsel, was named chief of staff, while John Hannah, his deputy national security adviser, was named national security adviser. Both men have been on Cheney's staff for more than four years.
Libby faces his first court appearance Thursday before U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton.
"There's no discussion of staff changes beyond the usual vacancies that occur or beyond filling the vacancy that the vice president did as well," McClellan said.
While White House officials were relieved that Rove was not indicted, Democrats demanded that he be fired. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., led the charge, calling for apologies from Bush and Cheney and saying the administration should explain the vice president's role in the unmasking of Plame.
The administration refused to respond. "If people want to try and politicize this process, that's their business," McClellan said.
McClellan was repeatedly asked to acknowledge that he was wrong in 2003 when he denied that Rove or Libby were involved in disclosing Plame's identity. He said he would not comment during the ongoing legal proceedings.
And of course, we all know that when the specific denials get lounder and louder the day is coming sooner than we think. This might be a Fitzmas present that got lost behind the tree but that we are now ready to open.
Then after that I predict it will be McClellan, Card, then Cheney. (More to come. See Why Rove Will Resign Even If Not Indicted for details.)
Discipline and moral among White House insiders is at an all time low. Rove must go and everyone knows it. But the prez it waiting for him to take the initiative. McClellan is completely depressed and wants to go but has to wait for Rove first.
The Hunkerdown and Fight It Out Strategy is dead in everyone's mind except for Rove. Everyone else knows its housecleaning time. A Fresh Start with a Fresh Team for a "New Positive Agenda For America" and Bush's second term.
How can you ask folks to put their hearts and souls and long hours into a battle everyone knows cannot be won?
Sun Tzu, the godfather of all strategic adisors said thousands of years ago, 'never fight a battle that you can lose'. Karl Rove knows this but now he is in a Shakespearen conflict of his own interest versus the Presidents, the GOP, and the Nation.
I can only imagine what the conversations must be like tonight at the White House and around Washington. Ask the cab drivers, bartenders, and listen to what you might hear.
"this just shows what a true spineless weasel that he really is, that he is putting all of us including the president through all of this just because he doesn't have the guts or the honor to take one for the team.
"In the movies this is the scene where your best friend hands you the pistol and leaves the room while everyone else solemly waits downstairs."
"But for goodness sake's were not even asking him to off himself, just to sneak quitely out the back door and dissappear for a while. Go on a long fishing trip. He can phone in great ideas with a disguised voice but get the heck out of Washington as fast as he can. In fact, it would be better if he went on a long visit to a country without an extradition treaty so he doesn't have to testify in open court. But we can worry about that later. Just get out now before they send in a SWAT team with handcuffs!"
"It's one thing to fall on your sword for the President or the Nation. But for a two bit political hack whose chickens are coming home to roost."
"It's only a matter of time before all the WHIGs must go."
"These babies are tarred up and ready for feathers."
"I be darned if we going to let these buzzards try to take up down with them. The Ship of State will not go down. We will just toss the .... overboard."
"You don't sink the ship so a coven of scounderals can go down with it. We will just toss the ^%)) overboard."
LOL
Now there a fresh new spirt. Don't you already feel a fresh new breeze blowing in? A big sigh of relief as we all can move forward and get out of this tar swamp.
Cheers until tonight.