Rove Scandal Chipping at Bush Agenda

July 25, 2005


THE main reason the growing scandal around Karl Rove matters - aside from the fact that a senior White House official may have committed a felony - is that it damages George W. Bush's declining political capital.

From social security reform to Iranian nuclear proliferation, from Supreme Court nominations to US-China confrontation, a president needs domestic political capital to achieve his policy goals. Bush's chip stack is clearly shrinking.

Most second-term presidents have 18months to govern before lame-duck status sets in. Bush is already wrestling with Congress on foreign and domestic priorities. The battle over Rove's possible involvement in a felony dangerously distracts the White House and is likely to undermine support for the President's agenda.

Rove, the man credited with Bush's winning campaign strategies in 2000 and last year, has been dogged by charges he leaked the name of an undercover CIA agent to at least three journalists. One, Robert Novak, published the agent's name in his syndicated column. A second, The New York Times correspondent Judith Miller, is in jail for refusing to reveal who gave her the agent's name. The third, Time magazine's Matthew Cooper, avoided jail when Rove, his source, released him from a confidentiality deal, allowing him to testify before a grand jury. Time also handed over Cooper's notes and emails relating to the leak.