Man Who Helped Elect Bush Now Says "Kerry Was Right" on Iraq

This is a fascinating story in the New York Times. Matthew Dowd is a Texas Democrat who spent six years working to elect George W. Bush President. He then spent four years helping him get ready for re-election and helped his 2004 campaign. He apparently now realizes that Bush has been wrong for America. He says that John Kerry was right on Iraq when he advocated a deadline for getting out last year.

Interestingly enough Dowd has a son who is now serving in Iraq. He is one of the few people that we know about in Bush's inner circle who has a personal stake in what happens in Iraq. That gives him a rather unique perspective for a Bushie, or in his case, a former Bushie.

He also faults Bush for his response to Hurricane Katrina and for not firing Rumsfeld. He portrays as disillusioned and believes that he has an obligation to help make things right, to "restore the balance." He doesn't plan to be involved in the 2008 race, but said that he likes Barack Obama because he is trying to bring Americans together. Be sure to read this article.

Is Attorney General Gonzales on the Bubble?

The Associated Press ran an article by one of its political reporters in which he speculated that Attorney General Gonzales might have to leave following the revelation that the FBI abused powers granted it by the Patriot Act. (This entry's title has a link to the AP article) This news comes on the heels of the scandal involving the fired U.S. Attorneys. Both stories play into the theme of the politicization of the Justice Department by the Bush Administration.

It will be interesting to see if Gonzales can survive the take-over of Congress by Democrats. The vaunted Bush loyalty only works one way. Bushes expect loyalty but they don't feel like they have to give it. That's because they are better than other people and when it becomes inconvenient for them to have someone in their lives politically, they get rid of them. An example of this is the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. As soon as the Democrats took control of Congress, he was gone.

The same thing could happen to Gonzales and even Cheney. The only person who might be untouchable is Rove and that is only because he knows too much to dump.

Secretary of State Rice Drawing More Criticism

The New York Times reported on Sunday that with Rumsfeld leaving the administration, more and more people are examining Condi Rice's role in the Iraq diaster and finding her performance wanting. As National Security Adviser and now Secretary of State her fingerprints are all over Iraq policy, but because Rumsfeld and Cheney were so public in their support, her role has often been overlooked. With Rumsfeld gone, however, that changes. Both Republicans and Democrats are complaining about how she handles diplomacy, or rather doesn't handle it, and she is now taking hits from the right as well as the left. Indeed, she may have more problems with Republicans as they try to find someone other than Bush to blame for the mess this administration has made of Iraq. (You can read the NYT article by clicking on the link in this entry's title.)