Office of the Independent Blogger

Briefly, let me state that, in the past, I lobbied for the Removal of Andrew Card as Chief of Staff, not for ideological reasons but because, as I saw it, he was a failed Chief of Staff at this stage in his career. All Presidents are human and each President needs assistance from competent, energetic men. I felt that Andrew Card was a worn man who was giving the President bad advice, and I considered him a weak fellow compared to King Karl Rove, regardless. Andrew Card served the President well for years, and helped guide him through his First Term, for the best, in Bush’s view, and he helped guide him through the worst, in Bush’s view, during his Second. But Card’s calling card wasn’t impeccable integrity, intelligence or even anything particularly unique — in a White House where every card is a Joker, his trademark was Loyalty. But when your “loyalty” to the President is what you hang your hat on, it’s what you’ll be hung for. Loyalty can only take you so far in Washington, and the Right Wing thinks it’s time to pull you, they’re going to pull you. Andrew Card was seen as an opponent of Conservatism at worst, and an obstacle to Competent Incompetence at best, by the Fringe of the Party. For the President’s failure to articulate a coherent vision on Social Security, and because he overreached and claimed it as his “Mandate,” Card had to lay upon the table.

Into Card’s shoes will step Josh Bolten, the present Budget Director who I have always been fond of, and Slate’s take on it makes the most sense, in my view. Josh Bolten isn’t going to shake the White House down or create great, monumental change. I like him not because he’ll change things — as the article points out, only the President can significantly change the President’s course — but because he’s reliable, intelligent and only mildly Conservative. In a way, he reminds me of Paul O’Neill, or of Colin Powell. That is, if Colin Powell were as decent as people say he is.

Since Bush is comfortable with Bolten, his new chief of staff may be able to tell the president when he’s wrong and deliver bad news—occasionally. He’ll also have the clout to push back against Karl Rove and the vice president. Bolten has an advantage over them that Card didn’t. Bolten knows policy better than anyone in the White House. He has no particular political skills, but no newcomer was going to replace Rove in that arena anyway. In a debate over the ultimate shape of immigration reform, for example, Bolten will have standing on specifics of the issue that might shape the outcome. Known as a moderate in the Bush firmament, he should give some hope to those Republicans who worry that the White House listens too closely to the party’s conservative and evangelical wings.

Bolten seems to have no blood pressure, an appearance that can be deceiving. Aides joke that you could hand him a flaming toaster and he would wait patiently for the bread to be done. But Bolten’s even keel masks how tightly he is wound. His desk gives him away. The papers sit at right angles, and the binders and books are aligned evenly by their spines. He demands accountability even from his pile of paper clips. The policy wonks who have worked for him say he exacts rigor. Such precision will lend credibility to any change he suggests.

The greater questions posed by this aren’t so great. “Is this a sign of a greater shake up?” Certainly not. No shake up in this White House is complete until Karl Rove is back on the streets of Texas to be rejected by future Education Secretaries when he asks them on dates. The move, however, is not a meaningless scrap of meat thrown to the chatterboxes of the media, including those right-wing sensationalists and those who are merely scandalous. It is an indication that the President, finding himself in a more pensive mood, wants a man better able to advise him on sound policy. Or that’s what my instinct tells me.

With a war raging in Iraq (and with that nation’s border-line flirtation with Civil War), along with Republicans having their own Civil War to deal with in Washington, the President has a lot to think about. This is my first post in this newly renovated Office of the Independent Blogger, and so, considering the time, I will close this for now. Tomorrow, we will discuss the problems with Iran, Immigration and the Welfare State. Until then, I direct you to this article, which any healthy Policy Wonk should read.

This is the Office of the Independent Blogger. Independent in the same sense that Ken Starr was. Which means “Not Very Independent” indeed! (No, I won’t be closing with that tagline all the time. It’s just a special occasion here!)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 28th, 2006 at 11:30 pm and is filed under Outside Retort (Current Affairs).