The other shoe

[libertango]

With all the talk of reorganization, there's something that keeps niggling at me about the White House. It can be summed up like this:

Why does Karl Rove still have a job?

I don't just mean this in the practical sense, that is, that Rove is the guy who turned what should have been 60/40 landslides into 50/50 squeakers that needed theft in order to be pulled off.

No, what I mean is... Bush is now a lame duck president. Nominally, he's never going to run for anything ever again in his life. Unless he brings back to life the John Quincy Adams approach and runs for the House, or the Senate, or something... which I wouldn't mind, myself, I think it's a better use of ex-presidents than leaving them out to pasture as we currently do.

So, for a guy who's never going to run for anything ever again -- why does he have a guy on staff who pretty much only does campaigns?

I've said before, and I'll bet I have cause to say it again: I look to January, 2009, with a combination of anticipation and dread. Anticipation because I can't wait for the most destructive president to the Union since Buchanan to leave office.

Dread because I don't trust him to leave.

Which brings us back to the question, which I'll elaborate:

If George W. Bush is leaving office in 33 months, and will never run for election again... Why does Karl Rove still have a job?

It's a puzzler.

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

Worst since Buchanan? jrittenhouse links to this article from Rolling Stone/

High standard

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

Well, yes. As the article itself asks:

"Was the lousiest James Buchanan, who, confronted with Southern secession in 1860, dithered to a degree that, as his most recent biographer has said, probably amounted to disloyalty -- and who handed to his successor, Abraham Lincoln, a nation already torn asunder?"

We haven't had an actual Civil War break out in the country because of Bush's policies. (So far.) Absent that, I think it's really tough to say he's worse than Buchanan.

Of course, if he declares himself Caesar, and anoints himself George I, all bets are off.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I think there are two things going on. One, he can do whatever he needs to do for House/Senate races better from the office of the President. And two, the party has not annointed a presidential successor -- so there's no single person to transfer to.

B

Re: High standard

[ckd]

We haven't had an actual Civil War break out in the country because of Bush's policies. (So far.)

In keeping with the role of the "CEO President" (of Enron), he's outsourced that to Iraq.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

In fact wasn't this week's "change" in his duties specifically to point him at the House/Senate races this year? This was what a Republican flack was advocating on Fresh Air a couple of weeks ago. Of course, he also thought Bush should make Rice the VP and Lieberman the Secretary of State. I had to admire the chutzpah of the vision.

hello

[(Anonymous)]

Best site I see. Thanks.

Re: hello

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

Arigato.