Bolten Replaces Card as White House Chief of Staff

Andrew Card resigned yesterday as White House Chief of Staff, and his replacement, Josh Bolten, was announced immediately. Since Mr. Bolten was already part of the Bush team, there is little point in trying to position this as the reshuffle so many have been demanding of the White House. Mr. Bush lost an opportunity to change the debate in Washington and breathe new life into his second term. Instead, he replaced a tried and true supporter in his administration with a tried and true supporter in his administration. Moreover, the man who quit isn't really the man who needs to go.

The position of White House Chief of Staff is not in the constitution, nor does it have any defined powers or lack thereof. It is, very much, whatever the president and the occupant say it is. During the Reagan Administration, Chief of Staff James Baker turned it into a Prime Ministership. Under Mr. Nixon, Bob Haldeman served as underboss to the godfather. Mr. Card, who has been described as “smaller than life,” brought very little to the job beyond administrative competence.

Mr. Bolten, by such contrast as is possible among the Busheviks, has been part of the policy segment of the Bush administration. As head of the Office of Management and Budget and before that as Deputy Chief of Staff, he has been behind the tax cuts that have defined the fiscal folly of Mr. Bush’s presidency. However, it must be clear that these ideas were not foisted on the president by Mr. Bolten, rather Mr. Bolten is implementing a policy in which they both believe. In other words, Mr. Bolten has a deeper and broader background in politics and policy than Mr. Card, but he, too, will be an implementor more than an innovator.

Even among the Busheviks, this announcement felt like an opportunity missed. Senator Minority Whip Richard Durbin (R-IL), said, "If the White House is looking to change course, they picked the wrong person to toss overboard." Karl Rove remains under investigation by Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald, John Snow at Treasury is on record as saying he’d move to the private sector if nudged, and Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellnick is rumored to want out. Changing all of these would have been the kind of news that would buy Mr. Bush a month or so of good will from the press while the new guys find their feet. He has chosen not to do that.

While the change may bring some better political antennae to the scene, the real changes that the country would applaud would be those Mr. Bush refuses to consider. The departures of Defense Secretary Field Marshal Donald von Rumsfeld and NeoCon-doleeza Rice would alter everything. And when one is below 40% in the polls with three years to go in the Oval Office, it’s a move worth making. Mr. Bush, though, is notorious for refusing to reason and to face facts.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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