It is common place for commentators to discuss the close relationship between George W. Bush and Karl Rove. He has been fixed to the side of the president at least since his decision to run for Texas Governor.
Before that he worked as a kid (literally) in the Republican Party and the Nixon White House. He cut his teeth running political races in our neck of the woods and developed his technique of identifying local Democrats--who used to be conservative once upon a time--with the more liberal national party. This allowed the Republican Party--which used to be moderate once upon a time--to bring the conservatives into their camp.
It didn't hurt that he was able to fall under the radar screen of the Bush Dynasty. It is said that each needed the other, and I'm in no position to disagree. One wonders where he would be now had Reagan not asked HW Bush to be his VP.
Here's a brief handful of some of the back and forth about Rove and his influence on contemporary politics. He clearly fits into a discussion of parties and we will do so in 2301 when we hit parties around October. We'll discuss his (apparently failed) efforts to increase the size of the national Republican Party by taking his Texas strategy nation-wide.
- Summary of editorial opinions.
- Summary of some of the blogs.
- Rove interview with Chris Wallace.
- More wrap ups from Slate.
