[Middle East Times, Egypt]

Financial Times Deutschland, Germany

EDITORIAL: Rove's Mission Aborted

"His goal was the creation of a structural Republican majority in the U.S. The conditions for this were favorable, but Rove failed."

EDITORIAL

Translated By Ulf Behncke

August 14, 2007

Germany - Financial Times Deutschland - Original Article (German)

George W. Bush has already lost or dismissed many important advisors during his years in the White House. Often enough, these departures have been an indication of the political decline of his presidency.

Karl Rove, the man who leaves him now, was perhaps Bush's most important Bush advisor of all, at least on matters of domestic policy. His departure however is first and foremost a question of timing and not a political signal.

In just over a year’s time the next president will be elected, and George W. Bush will no longer be a candidate. The premature departure of his best election campaign strategist and chief advisor is only logical, and marks the beginning of the official end of the Bush era.

For the Republican Party presidential candidates, the momentum of the race for the nomination is picking up. For Karl Rove, who forged electoral majorities for Bush over many years, little is left to do. The fact that the President today is more interested in foreign policy and his own historical balance sheet than in opinion surveys about his party may have facilitated and accelerated the separation.

George W. Bush owes a lot to this inconspicuous string-puller. Rove helped Bush enter politics as the governor of Texas, and later to unexpected victories in the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. His strategic skills, his inventiveness and his ruthlessness when it came to mobilizing voters made the advisor a genius for some, and for others the despised éminence grise [grey eminence or power behind the throne] of the Bush years.

Unlike Bush though, Rove has always been a Party man. His goal was a "permanent" majority - the creation of a structural Republican majority in the USA. The conditions for this were favorable: The most dynamic regions of the country, the south and the west, are conservative strongholds; alliances of different groups on the Right could be built around issues like low taxes or national security.

But nevertheless, Rove failed with this project. The future of the Republicans hasn't been this uncertain for some time, with many conservatives having turned their backs on Bush’s party. Some due to the mistaken war in Iraq, others because of rapidly rising public expenditures, and still others because of liberal immigration policies or the many cases of corruption and incompetence within their leadership.

Perhaps the greatest hope of the party today is its old hate-figure, Hillary Clinton. As the presidential candidate for the Democrats, she would mobilize the right almost automatically. It's even conceivable that Rove would be prepared to make himself available for a bit more scheming.

SEE ALSO:

Tribune de Geneve, Switzerland

Bush's Former Brain:

A 'Liar in Good Faith' ...

http://www.watchingamerica.com/oglobo000040.shtml

O Globo, Brazil

Rove Brought Out the Worst

In the American Psyche …

http://www.watchingamerica.com/oglobo000040.shtml

Arab News, Saudi Arabia

EDITORIAL: Karl Rove,

Master of Dirty Tricks ...

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=99814&d=14&m=8&y=2007

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