Word: rove
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...among the closest advisers and friends to McCain, but neither is his captain nor his conscience. At times, they serve as his protectors and his soldiers, often spewing negative invective that can border on name-calling. But politics is not their first love or final destination. Unlike Karl Rove, neither man has grand plans to transform Republican politics or the country. They rose to the top of the Washington rock pile by happenstance as much as by design--Salter because of his close friendship with McCain, and Schmidt because most of McCain's other advisers resigned last year. Together, they...
...Most people don't care about the consultants a candidate hires - very few handlers achieve the celebrity status of a Karl Rove or a James Carville. Most voters who supported McCain in 2000 but not this year have more obvious gripes: they don't like the way he's shaved his policy positions to approach Republican dogma. They may remember that he opposed the Bush tax cuts before he favored them. They may remember that he was more moderate on social issues like abortion in 2000, decrying the extremists on both sides and saying that "people of good intentions" could...
...More surprising to those who didn't know him in person is his successful recasting as a wonk. Smart, candid and capable of an objectivity that seems downright fair-minded, Rove has won over even some who were more comfortable viewing him as a dark strategic overlord. Reviewers at the New York Times and Slate have called him "mild-mannered," "dispassionate," "generous" and even "graceful." "He makes his case well and comes across as thoughtful and fair," says Bush's chief of staff, Josh Bolten. "I'm surprised that people are surprised at that...
...Rove's access to his old employers and peers makes his job easier, but it also carries risks. His peanut butter and honey sandwiches with Bush give Rove White House access, but reinforce the public perception of a shared fate - something the new Rove needs to shake. The rise of Schmidt and the ensuing Roveian attacks on Obama have also increased the ease with which Obama can link McCain to the tactics of his predecessor. That's fine if McCain wins, but "it'll be interesting to see what happens to Rove's reputation and how much people are willing...
...Rove still lives in the comfortable Palisades neighborhood of Washington, D.C. and keeps his offices in the capital as well. He says he plans to move back to Texas, and is, "already sticking [a] toe back in the water there." But if his campaign of reinvention succeeds, it's hard to imagine this most political of animals in any other habitat...