They Call Him "Bush's Brain"

Dropping out of college could mark the beginning of a brilliant political career. Karl Rove, President Bush’s deputy chief of staff, is a case in point.

His active involvement in politics began even before he entered college. When U.S. Senator Wallace Bennett needed a chairman for his re-election campaign at Olympus High School in Salt Lake City, Karl volunteered. That service in turn yielded him an internship with Utah’s Republican Party.

He was 20 when he got involved in political campaigns--and political pranks. As reported in The Nation, for example, he produced fake flyers on letterheads (stolen from Illinois Senator Alan Dixon’s campaign office) promising “free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing.”

After his freshman year at the University of Utah, he found it more rewarding at age 21 to become executive director of the College Republicans’ national committee and, two years later, their national chairman. A college degree was obviously not a requirement for the top job in the College Republican organization.

Fortuitously, George H. W. Bush chaired the Republican National Committee while Rove headed the College Republicans. Rove’s political savvy sufficiently impressed Bush to employ him in his vice-presidential campaign in 1980.

By founding a direct mail consulting company out of Austin, Texas, Rove gained ambitious and well-heeled office seekers as clients and friends, among them Bill Clements seeking to be Texas governor, Phil Gramm of Texas and John Ashcroft of Missouri aiming to become U.S. senators, and George W. Bush who in 1993 asked for his assistance in his race for governor of Texas.

In his presidential campaign, the younger Bush again leaned heavily on Rove. The New York Times reported that for services rendered from July through November 1999, the Bush campaign paid Rove $2.5 million. His career as a political consultant gained him both influence and wealth.

After the contested presidential election in November 2000, it was Rove who steered the Bush offensive in the courts that won his boss Florida’s decisive 25 electoral votes. In appreciation, the President promptly appointed him his Senior Advisor.

Most reports about the relationship between Mr. Bush and Mr. Rove assert that Rove has unlimited access to the President and controls the information that reaches him. In their book, Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, journalists James Moore and Wayne Slater claim that Rove’s “influence marks a transcendent moment in American politics: the rise of an unelected consultant to a position of unprecedented power.” “Without Karl Rove,” the authors conclude, “there would be no President George W. Bush.”

Much of the direction and style of the Bush presidency reflect Karl Rove’s approach to politics as a permanent campaign for popular approval. It is a strategy that always asks first and foremost: Will what the President says and does solidify and enhance his power?

There was a time during 2000 campaign when it paid for Mr. Bush to extol “compassionate conservatism.” After the terrorist attack on New York and the Pentagon, however, it seemed more productive for the President’s approval rating to extol his heroic determination to rid the world of “evil.”

Time and again, Rove counseled expediency rather than principle. Free trade with Cuba would benefit numerous American businesses but Rove insists on the embargo demanded by the large Cuban voting block because without it Bush cannot win Florida. To make the President into a victorious commander-in-chief and justify the invasion of Iraq, misinforming the nation about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction served Rove’s purpose. For him, the President’s best interest and the national interest are essentially identical.

After over four years in office, however, many of the President’s decisions have not benefited the nation, particularly the prolonged and increasingly costly war in Iraq, his failure to insist upon peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and the world-wide criticism of his administration’s rejection of major international agreements.

Karl Rove’s advice to the president has not shown him to be the genius his admirers make him out to be. He has made serious mistakes, and he may be making more mistakes that are bound to haunt him, sooner or later.

Wolf D. Fuhrig	Home	07-17-05
They Call Him "Bush's Brain"
Dropping out of college could mark the beginning of a brilliant political career. Karl Rove, President Bush’s deputy chief of staff, is a case in point. His active involvement in politics began even before he entered college. When U.S. Senator Wallace Bennett needed a chairman for his re-election campaign at Olympus High School in Salt Lake City, Karl volunteered. That service in turn yielded him an internship with Utah’s Republican Party. He was 20 when he got involved in political campaigns--and political pranks. As reported in The Nation, for example, he produced fake flyers on letterheads (stolen from Illinois Senator Alan Dixon’s campaign office) promising “free beer, free food, girls and a good time for nothing.” After his freshman year at the University of Utah, he found it more rewarding at age 21 to become executive director of the College Republicans’ national committee and, two years later, their national chairman. A college degree was obviously not a requirement for the top job in the College Republican organization. Fortuitously, George H. W. Bush chaired the Republican National Committee while Rove headed the College Republicans. Rove’s political savvy sufficiently impressed Bush to employ him in his vice-presidential campaign in 1980. By founding a direct mail consulting company out of Austin, Texas, Rove gained ambitious and well-heeled office seekers as clients and friends, among them Bill Clements seeking to be Texas governor, Phil Gramm of Texas and John Ashcroft of Missouri aiming to become U.S. senators, and George W. Bush who in 1993 asked for his assistance in his race for governor of Texas. In his presidential campaign, the younger Bush again leaned heavily on Rove. The New York Times reported that for services rendered from July through November 1999, the Bush campaign paid Rove $2.5 million. His career as a political consultant gained him both influence and wealth. After the contested presidential election in November 2000, it was Rove who steered the Bush offensive in the courts that won his boss Florida’s decisive 25 electoral votes. In appreciation, the President promptly appointed him his Senior Advisor. Most reports about the relationship between Mr. Bush and Mr. Rove assert that Rove has unlimited access to the President and controls the information that reaches him. In their book, Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, journalists James Moore and Wayne Slater claim that Rove’s “influence marks a transcendent moment in American politics: the rise of an unelected consultant to a position of unprecedented power.” “Without Karl Rove,” the authors conclude, “there would be no President George W. Bush.” Much of the direction and style of the Bush presidency reflect Karl Rove’s approach to politics as a permanent campaign for popular approval. It is a strategy that always asks first and foremost: Will what the President says and does solidify and enhance his power? There was a time during 2000 campaign when it paid for Mr. Bush to extol “compassionate conservatism.” After the terrorist attack on New York and the Pentagon, however, it seemed more productive for the President’s approval rating to extol his heroic determination to rid the world of “evil.” Time and again, Rove counseled expediency rather than principle. Free trade with Cuba would benefit numerous American businesses but Rove insists on the embargo demanded by the large Cuban voting block because without it Bush cannot win Florida. To make the President into a victorious commander-in-chief and justify the invasion of Iraq, misinforming the nation about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction served Rove’s purpose. For him, the President’s best interest and the national interest are essentially identical. After over four years in office, however, many of the President’s decisions have not benefited the nation, particularly the prolonged and increasingly costly war in Iraq, his failure to insist upon peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and the world-wide criticism of his administration’s rejection of major international agreements. Karl Rove’s advice to the president has not shown him to be the genius his admirers make him out to be. He has made serious mistakes, and he may be making more mistakes that are bound to haunt him, sooner or later.

Wolf D. Fuhrig

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07-17-05

They Call Him "Bush's Brain"