Along the Guadalupe, beyond the WalMart, west of the busiest commercial district, beyond the feed stores and cedar post yard, beyond the Stihl dealership, road begins to feel like a river road. At Ingram the curves start and they won't straighten out until the road climbs back into the hot, windy west Texas upland near Mountain Home.
Hidden among the huge oaks and pecans among other large properties along the river is Karl and Darby Rove's place. I guess we can expect them to be here now, certainly by Labor Day. White House chief of staff Josh Bolten told the troops that anyone who stayed until Labor Day would damn well stay on to the bitter end, so Karl (who's been considering the move for months now) is taking off.
Mr. Rove said he had first considered leaving a year ago but stayed after his party lost the crucial midterm elections last fall, putting Congress in Democratic hands, and Mr. Bush’s problems mounted in Iraq and in his pursuit of a new immigration policy.
He said his hand was forced when the White House chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten, recently told senior aides that if they stayed past Labor Day they would be expected to stay through the rest of Mr. Bush’s term.
“He’s been talking with the president for a long time — about a year, regarding when might be good to go,” said Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman. “But there’s always a big project to work on, and his strategic abilities — and our need for his support — kept him here,” she said.
Ms. Perino said Mr. Rove would leave at the end of August.
He thinks the Republicans will win in 2008 and that Hillary Clinton is a "tough, tenacious, and fatally flawed candidate." Karl Rove is very,very smart, and I think he's right about Hillary. He's not endorsing any particular Republican candidate.
Rove said he was finished with political consulting and plans to spend much of his time at his house in Ingram, Tex., with his wife, Darby, and near their son, who attends college in San Antonio. He said he plans to write a book about Bush's years in office, a project encouraged by the president, and would like to teach at some point, but has no job lined up for now. He does not plan to work on a presidential campaign nor would he endorse a candidate.
I think the book will be out by about this time next year, don't you?
