As Rove Departs, President Again Turns to Gillespie
By Michael A. FletcherWashington Post Staff WriterThursday, August 16, 2007
CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 15 -- When George W. Bush needed a communications adviser during the 2000 Florida recount, which determined whether he would be president, he turned to Ed Gillespie. When Bush needed someone to shepherd two of his Supreme Court nominees, he again called on Gillespie. And when longtime confidant and counselor Dan Bartlett stepped down this summer, Bush brought Gillespie to the White House.
Now, with the departure of Karl Rove, the president's closest adviser, Gillespie, 46, a former lobbyist and Republican National Committee chairman, has once again been asked to help fill the void.
(...this story continues at www.washingtonpost.com)
14 comments:
Rove's departure will likely only have a small impact on the White House and politics in general. Though he is very good on generating support for campaigns, he is much less skilled in helping govern and policy making. With Bush leaving in one and a half years there is not much for him to do. He was forced to step down as chief policy coordinator last year after a failure to reform the immigration system, remake Social Security and more.
Rove used a political strategy that left the country more divided than ever, so his departure may (but likely won't) be the start of a shrinking of the divide between Democrats and Republicans. If Congress finds out that Rove had something to do with the firing of US attorneys, the negative response towards the White House will be slightly diminished because of his departure.
I believe that Rove's departure will not have an impact on politics, but maybe a small impact on what the President does. The President may dwelve into other situations because of a new adviser, but with the little time that the President has in office, the current administration will not be able to make any new policies.
The White House and politics in general will not be heavily impacted by Rove's departure. Because Rove's duties are being split among multiple people it is expected that there will be some confusion in the White House. The duties are being distributed to very capable persons; therefore, the confusion will be kept to a minimum. Although Rove has played a significant role in politics, his departure is not going to impact politics.
Although it was mentioned quite a bit on the news, it doesn't really have too much of an effect on much of politics. There are other things going on right now which will probably have more of an effect on choices being made by the President. With the time left in his presidency narrowing down, Bush still faces conflicts that he's faced for years and Rove's departure will most likely not affect it.
I think that Rove's departure will have a very small impact on the politics but a rather large impact on the president. I agree with the end of the article when it said that we will likely see less of President Bush but when we do see him, his speaches will probably carry more weight then before. Rove wanted the president to make many public apperances but Gillespie wants to focus more on each speeche's impact and less on the president's frequent apperances.
Ah college life... what excitement! except that I find myself in my room with absolutely nothing to do. So what better way of spending my time at Marquette than visiting this good 'ole blog. For those of you who don't know who I am, I used to take AP Govt' last year and i must say that it was one of my favorite classes throughout my High School career--I am positive that you will all enjoy it as much as I did. And now to the actual question...
Carl Rove is one of the greatest political campaign organizers alive today. No one (from either party) denies that. Because of this, his departure from the White House has the potential to have huge impacts on politics in general. It is no surprise to anyone that the majority of the Dems--including all the major presidential hopefuls--glorified this as a great event that was long overdue. That it was a triumph against one of the cornerstones of the Bush presidency. But a handful of Democrats (the smart ones) realized the true implications of Rove's departure: he was now free of his position as an advisor to the White House. The truth of the matter is that now that Rove is a "free agent", he can choose to pursue whatever it is that he sees fit. He can begin advising presidential hopefuls on the right side of the isle. With the experience he acquired getting Bush elected twice (or selected once and elected once for you lefties out there), he would be a powerful tool in anyone's arsenal. He could significantly change the course of what is the epitomy of politics in the U.S.: the presidential race. If thats not a big impact, then I don't know what is.
I have to agree with Jahir, since my other summer homework is not exactly my favorite thing to do, and I end up have attn. span disorders in the summer. Rove was not only a great campaigner on a national stage for Bush, but also in Texas. The Texas connection undoubtly gave Bush a added level of confort with Rove that may never be matched or completely replace. It will be intresting to see who, if any one seek the help of this "free agent." Rove's departure will also have a somewhat larger impact, since it will be flanked by the departure of Alberto Gonzales, who, with the help of his congressional testimony, has also been portrayed as one of Bush' cronies who will march in lock step with whatever Bush says. Rove and Gonzales provide a very strong one two punch to the White House, and politics in general with the "scnadals" that they are wrapped up in, thanks to the congress adding new oversight responsiblities because, well, they feel like it.
I honestly do not think that Rove's absence from the White House will make that much of a difference in politics. But I DO agree with Vlad that it will make a difference for the president. Bush's decisions, in my opinion, will change because of this change. I just think that Gillespie will have different opinions than Rove did.
Seeing as how Jahir and Megan covered every last bit of how Rove's departure will impact politics, I'll focus more on how it will impact the White House. Rove's departure will have a small impact on the White House, and hopefully a good one. The impact, if any, won't come from Rove's departure, but more from the arrival of Ed Gillespie and the taking over of duties by everyone else. The President will have to change to doing speeches differently and less often, as the article and Katie both point out. Gillespie's style of going about his duties is also less harsh than how Rove went about everything, so all in all there might be a chance for better working relations among the staff, which would benefit the President, and hopefully the people as well.
In order to save my grade in this class, I've decided to make the blog my new best friend. I hope that'll be okay.
As for the question, I have to agree with the majority of those posting. I don't think Rove's departure will truly change politics. As Vlad stated, this may affect President Bush's administration has run out of time, and there's not much hope of them doing anything now.
I have already posted on this before but I guess I need to post again. A 20/50 isn't good enough for me.
Has anybody heard anything recently about Rove's departure? My point is that there are many other things going on in the news that are more important. A few decisions here and there might be different, but the overall impact obviously isn't that big.
I agree with Kelly that the arrival of Ed Gillespie may have a greater affect than the departure of Karl Rove. Nevertheless, Bush does not have the confidence in Gillespie as he had in Rove, so Gillespie will likely have much less sway than Rove. Though Rove had a profound impact on Bush's political strategy, I doubt the President will produce any radical changes because of his departure. I think he has proven time and time again that he is stubborn and will stick to his policies and ideas regardless of who is working for him.
I believe the Rove departure will not have an immediate impact on the Bush white house. President Bush has leaned on Gillespie throughout his entire presidency and this will continue. Rove has had a huge impact on the last two presidential elections and this is where his biggest contribution is needed. I believe a person like Rove is necessary for the Republicans to win the white house in 2008. This is where I feel his departure from the Bush administration may have the biggest impact. He is known most for his political strategic thinking and this will be necessary in the next year for the Republicans. Despite his departure from the Bush administration, he may still be called upon by the Republican party as they prepare to defend the white house against Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. Time will tell.
roves departure has had a very small impact on politics and i dont think its had much impact on the presidents decisions either. i think this was a very over-televised event.
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