White House at War with itself-Blaming Andrew Card For Miers

[LiviaOlivia]

October 11, 2005
Blaming Card For Miers
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2005/10/blaming_card_fo_1.html

Is it just us or is there already a storyline developing about 'who's to blame for Miers'"? And if so, is WH CoS Andrew Card about to be on the wrong end of this blame game?

This scenario holds Card responsible for pushing President Bush to select Miers, for pushing her through the vetting process secretly, inartfully, and incompletely, and for screwing up the outreach to conservatives.

Republicans close to the process have marveled at how the White House seems to be chasing information about Miers it reads in the press, rather than framing it. "It's as if," one adviser who is sympathetic to Miers told The Hotline today, "they don't know anything about her."

~snip~

"Sources inside the White House say Card in several meetings literally shouted down opposition to Miers during the vetting process."

This makes Card look bad and White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove look, well, less bad. What that says about who is leaking this stuff... whether Rove and Card are at loggerheads... whether the White House bungled the nomination outreach... is TBD.

hotlineblog at October 11, 2005 08:35 PM

:rofl:

[Kagemusha]

1. I thought I heard Miers was in charge of vetting.

Specifically compared to Cheney's VP search.

I know nothing about the source for that so could be very wrong.

[Kurovski]

4. I'd also heard that...on CNN I think, but possibly on FAUX.

It seemed odd at the time, and I've not heard that scenario anywhere else.

[flamin lib]

2. No, only Bush himself could screw up this badly. nt

[napi21]

3. I don't know. Heard tonight on CNN that there's a split in the WH.

Shrub, Card and Rove on one side, and Cheney and Libby on the other.

I don't know if they're right, or if there's any truth to any of that, but it sure does seem like Cheney and Libby have been hiding!

[Kurovski]

5. Oh, that's such good news! Divide and conquer.

[wtmusic]

7. Shrub vs. Cheney?

Who will pull the strings? :shrug:

[submerged99]

8. The dummy attacks the ventriliquest?

Yeah, I was wondering what would have gotten into Chimp to make him attack his master. I can't fathom a Chimp vs D*ckhead Cheney scenario. It's too bizarre.

[submerged99]

6. So is it Rove against Card?

Why would Rove want Card out of the picture? Is he just a scapegoat or does he pose some real threat to Rove in some way?

[LiviaOlivia]

9. from Hardball transcript 10-10-2005

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9662325/

~snip~

HOWARD FINEMAN, NBC CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That‘s the point of the lance of this whole thing.

Right now, my sense, in reporting this, Chris, is that the Bush family, political family, is at war with itself inside the White House. My sense is, it‘s—it‘s—it‘s—it‘s Andy Card, the chief of staff, and his people against Karl Rove, the brain.

MATTHEWS: Right.

FINEMAN: And that runs through a whole lot of things, whether it‘s Harriet Miers or Katrina. But it all starts with Iraq.

And some submerged, but now emerging divisions within the administration over why we went into that war, how we went into that war and what was done to sell it. There are people are out for Karl Rove inside that White House, which makes his situation even more perilous.

My understanding, from talking to somebody quite close to this investigation, is that they think there are going to be indictments and possibly Karl Rove could be among them, if not for the act of the leaking information about Valerie Plame, then perhaps for perjury, because he‘s now testified four times.

And there are conflicts between what Matt Cooper told the grand jury and what Rove evidently told the jury himself. And Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor, is an absolute stickler for detail who has no political axe to grind here, other than keeping his own credibility. Having put Judy Miller in jail, having gone to the lengths he had, my understand is, he has got some people here, not only Rove, but perhaps Scooter Libby, the vice president‘s chief of staff.

MATTHEWS: I also get the sense he reads the law book. He doesn‘t care about the politics.

(CROSSTALK)

FINEMAN: That‘s what I meant. That‘s what I meant. He doesn‘t care about the politics.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: Let me ask you, you just raised a curtain-raiser for me. I didn‘t even know this.

You believe that the fight between those who may be headed toward indictment, the vice president‘s chief of staff, Karl Rove, there is a war between them and the people who are going to survive them, Andy Card, etcetera.

FINEMAN: Yes.

MATTHEWS: But is Andy Card saying now, here‘s his chance to prove the war was wrong? Is that what this—it‘s a shadow fight over that?

FINEMAN: I think it‘s possible. I think it‘s possible.

Look, when you are up, you‘re up big time. Karl Rove was the boy genius.

MATTHEWS: Right.

FINEMAN: Karl Rove could do no wrong.

But now Karl Rove seems to have been caught overstepping on this.

MATTHEWS: Right.

FINEMAN: And now people are questioning everything about it. And it goes back. If you have to have an organizing principle, it‘s the war in Iraq. That‘s what it is.

~snip~