Bush's alter ego with a sense of history

In the final days before last fall's midterm elections, Karl Rove joked to reporters that if Republicans did well, President Bush would get the credit - but if they did not, Rove would get the blame.

The comment was typical for this longtime political adviser: instinctively loyal, deflecting attention. But it was also, of course, wrong. For while Mr. Bush did get a bounce out of his party's historic electoral gains - and much of the recognition - his chief strategist has taken on a mythology of his own.

As the most powerful political operative in Washington - yet one who remains largely behind the scenes - Mr. Rove has long been an object of fascination for reporters and political junkies alike. But as the president heads into the second half of his term, with still-strong approval ratings and both houses of Congress now under Republican control, Rove's status has grown to Oz-like proportions. Tellingly, he is the subject of two new books - one just out, the other coming next month - titled: "Boy Genius" and "Bush's Brain." And as a measure of his perceived power, his appearance at a recent Monitor-sponsored event in Washington drew more than 70 reporters, the third largest turnout in the history of those gatherings.

Almost every modern presidency has featured a political guru - James Carville during the Clinton years, for example, or Lee Atwater during George Bush Sr.'s tenure. But both supporters and critics of the Bush administration say Rove holds a unique, perhaps unprecedented position. He works out of the West Wing, rather than at party headquarters or a private consulting shop. And his influence extends far beyond politics into policy.

Friends and co-workers say Rove's close friendship with the president, as well as his breadth of knowledge, makes him a key adviser on a wide range of issues.

"He is incomparable to any predecessors - and likely any successors - because he is so unique," says Mary Matalin, who was until recently a top adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, and who has long ties to the Bush family. "What makes him so influential is that he is truly as talented and well versed in policy as politics, and he has ... a bond and a trust with George W. Bush."

Still, Rove himself dismisses his exalted image as mostly hype. "I think this town can only operate successfully through myth, and one of the great myths is that there has to be some Svengali-like person sitting in the White House," he says. "I am not sure I provide a unique service to the president. I am one voice among many around the senior staff table."

Neutral observers point out that while Rove's record is impressive, he's not infallible, and has made mistakes on the campaign trail. During the 2000 race, he spent millions of dollars in California, which Bush wound up losing by a wide margin, while more attainable states ultimately slipped away.

And while he has been widely lauded for his recruitment of candidates during the 2002 cycle, his interference has occasionally backfired - as in California, where Rove's handpicked gubernatorial candidate, Richard Riordan, suffered an embarrassing defeat in the primary.

The administration has also drawn occasional fire from both the left and the right for policy moves that have been perceived as blatantly political - and therefore attributed, rightly or wrongly, to Rove. Bush's decision to impose tariffs on imported steel, for example, raised the ire of conservatives, while an early move to lift regulations on arsenic in drinking water provided liberal groups with an easy punch line.

Most damaging may have been some remarks Rove made at a GOP gathering last winter that seemed to imply Republicans could make electoral gains from the war on terror. Critics have seized on such statements as evidence that political concerns are dictating the administration's every move.

"You didn't see James Carville making foreign policy in the Clinton White House," says Mark Mellman, a Democratic strategist. "It's a little strange to see Karl Rove doing it."

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