Andy Card 'steps down'

[mburbank]

Or got the ax, depending on how you read the tea leaves.

Less than a week after W said he had no intention of bowing to pressure for any sort of staff shake up, his Chief of staff takes the long walk. At least their not saying it's coincidental and eh wants to spend more time with his family.

The official line is that this was cards idea, and that may well be true, but it does prove that somebody in the whitehouse is capable of recognizing heat when he feels it.

I can't see this changing much of anything, but it is interesting to see that at some level they are not totally deaf to their party or the national mood.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Supposedly, he gave his official resignation like three weeks ago.

Not to speculate, but allow me to speculate. Three weeks ago we were involved in the ports controversy, not to mention the on-going Abramoff scandal. Norton resigned what, two weeks ago?? I'm guessing he wanted to hold off on Card just so it didn't look like a mass exodus and/or attrition.

Also, if you're critical of the way the Bush brain trust works, you should be nervous about this move. From what I understand, there were Card factions and Rove factions. They were each in the president's ear, but had differing opinions on stuff. This resignation, along with nobody #8 taking over the role, leads me to believe that this is a defacto win and power play by Karl Rove.

[mburbank]

I'm not sure it worries me because A.) I think the administration is already at the edge of the scumbaginess envelope the public will tolerate, and B.) Todays papers make it look more likely than ever that Fitzgerald still intends to indict Rove.

[Preechr]

The chief of staff would be the highest possible subordinate ultimately responsible for executive decisions such as informing the president about the possible implications and/or ramifications of a ports deal with Dubai, and probably also keeping tabs on the Abramoff's of the Republican world. I don't think the Abramoff "scandal" alone would have been it for Card, or even if it shaded his report card, but I'm thinking this is definitely related to the ports thing.

Either he's resigning to express (to our friends in the UAE) his displeasure with the outcome of that transaction, or he's being scapegoated to the party as being guilty of the negligence that led to such a transaction... or both... either way, he's surely taking one for the team.

I don't agree that this was the result of a Rove power play. Card's made it too far into the game to have suddenly become a liability to Rove's machine. I see this as more of a calculated move by TeamBush© than a sign of some sort of internal collapse.

That being said, I haven't actually read the first word about this yet, so these are just my uninformed first impressions based solely on Max's post. I reserve the right to completely contradict myself at a later time.

[mburbank]

Not much to read yet. The story just broke about an hour ago.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Originally Posted by Preechr

I don't think the Abramoff "scandal" alone would have been it for Card, or even if it shaded his report card, but I'm thinking this is definitely related to the ports thing.

Which is why I included the Abramoff issue among those things, and not as a sole reason. Keep in mind, any internal resignations will be linked to scandals by the Left regardless of whether or not there's any real connection. I'm guessing the administration had that inm ind when they put it off for three weeks.

I don't agree that this was the result of a Rove power play. Card's made it too far into the game to have suddenly become a liability to Rove's machine. I see this as more of a calculated move by TeamBush© than a sign of some sort of internal collapse.

Whether ROve pushed for the resignation or not is irrelevant. The common conception is that Rove and Card didn't get along, and that they competed for attention and priority. Also, see today's "The Note" at ABC.com. This guy Bolten is apparently tight with Rove. To assume that Rove, who quite arrogantly has his fingers in everything, had no role or whispers in this at all would be silly.

That being said, I haven't actually read the first word about this yet, so these are just my uninformed first impressions based solely on Max's post. I reserve the right to completely contradict myself at a later time.

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