Meet Bush's Mr. Inside

Karl Rove, George W. Bush's top behind-the-scenes political strategist, isn't the one who's supposed to be making headlines.

Recently, however, the media has had a field day with Rove, as stories about potential conflicts of interest involving his personal finances, as well as his role in some controversial political issues, overshadowed his boss' recent visit to Europe.

Questions arose when it was discovered that Rove owned stock in computer giant Intel and energy titan Enron Corp. at the same time that he was involved in meetings and policy discussions directly affecting those companies. Democrats immediately cried foul. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., even requested a congressional hearing into the March 12 Intel meeting at which Rove was present.

At around the same time, the administration announced it would halt Naval bombing exercises on Vieques Island off the coast of Puerto Rico. Pro-military members of Congress were incensed, especially at Rove, who chaired the meeting where the decision was made.

Some Republicans also blamed Rove for bungling relations with moderate Vermont Sen. James Jeffords, whose decision to quit the GOP cost the party control of the Senate.

In past administrations, this kind of negative publicity early on might have signaled the beginning of the end for someone in Rove's position. But looking at Rove's career and his long relationship with the president, some say it's a long shot that he'll be booted from the White House any time soon.

And the man at the top agrees, at least publicly.

"My level of conidence with Karl Rove has never been higher," Mr. Bush told reporters last week. "He gives me sound advice."

That last comment speaks volumes about Rove's importance to the president.

In fact, most Republicans would agree that he's indispensable. Mr. Bush and Rove "have been together so long," that Rove is the president's "repository of knowledge and history," McKinnon said.

While he may be indispensable, not everyone thinks he's untouchable. A Texas Democratic strategist who knows Rove well said, "We have a pool around these parts guessing how long it takes Bush to ask him to leave."

And although Mr. Bush is well known for his loyalty, the strategist thinks that there are "loyalty limits."

"There are some very fine people (around the president)," he said, pointing out that if Rove "can't keep himself out of the press ... it's only a matter of time" before those people urge Mr. Bush to get rid of Rove.

The Bush-Rove connection dates back to 1973, when the senior George Bush was chairman of the Republican National Committee and Rove was chairman of the College Republicans. Rove not only became friends with George W. but with Lee Atwater, who later became the political attack dog for the Reagan and Bush presidential campaigns of the 1980s. It was Atwater who Rove – referred to as George W. Bush's "Rottweiler" by the Texas Democratic strategist – modeled his aggressive political style after.

In 1978, a time when there were no Republicans elected to statewide office in Texas, Rove, then 27, was hired as an adviser to George W. Bush during his unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. House.

After Mr. Bush's defeat, Rove regrouped and continued to work in Texas Republican politics, where he eventually became "almost personally responsible for the state's transition from Democrat to Republican," according to McKinnon. By the time Mr. Bush left Texas in January, there were no Democrats holding statewide office there. And Rove helped accomplish this, McKinnon believes, by "fostering candidates, planting seeds" and sticking to a long-range, hard-hitting strategy.

"That's bull****," said the Democratic strategist. Rove was simply the "right guy at the right time" in Texas politics, he said.

The strategist explained that the state's demographics in the 1970s and 1980s changed after the "migration of millions of white northern voters as technology began to replace oil" as the main industry in Texas. "The demography became more suburban," he said, therefore, more Republican.

Regardless of whether Rove single-handedly had an effect on the balance of political power in Texas, he has played a major role in several big-time campaigns over the years.

Among the successful statewide candidates he helped get elected were Phil Gramm, in his 1984 run for the Senate – a year after Gramm switched from Democrat to Republican while a member of the U.S. House – and Kay Bailey Hutchison, who won a special Senat election in 1993. Rove was also reunited with George W. Bush in his defeat of Gov. Ann Richards in 1994.

"His success ratio is phenomenal," McKinnon raved.

It was during Mr. Bush's 1994 gubernatorial campaign that Rove, Bush adviser Karen Hughes and FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh formed the "Iron Triangle," so named for the trio's proximity to Mr. Bush and protectiveness of him. The triumvirate wound up working on both of Mr. Bush's gubernatorial races as weel as last year's presidential run.

Despite his past successes, Rove is now in the spotlight for a series of political stumbles. It remains to be seen how this will play out – whether the mistakes are swept under the rug or become a major political distraction for the president. But this much is for sure: because of the long relationship between Rove and Mr. Bush, it will be difficult for the president to let him go.

And while some Democrats would revel in an embarrassing dismissal of Rove, some would rather see him stick around.

"We don't really want him to go away," the Texas Democratic strategist said, thinking that the negative attention on the Bush White House is good for Democrats.

"As long as he keeps doing what he's been doing, we'll be back."

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