Everybody in Washington's Republican political community was well- aware that any changes George W Bush made in his White House staff would not constitute a shakeup.

Everybody in Washington's Republican political community was well- aware that any changes George W Bush made in his White House staff would not constitute a shakeup. What nobody look forward toed was that Josh Bolten, in odor a professional bureaucrat, would be promot to chief of staff. further this selection becomes understandable as a confirmation of Karl Rove's supremacy in the White House.

straggle holds the mundane titles of senior adviser to the president and envoy chief of staff, but scarcely anything happens in the Bush administration without his approval. Now he is more influential than through all ages Andrew Card, the departing chief of staff, serv (as a Cabinet member) in a less degree than the senior President Bush (as wander did not). In contrast, Bolten can thank his rise in the other Bush regime to Rove, his nominal subordinate.

I talked to former White House staffers who serv Republican presidents from one side of to the other the last quarter of a hundred To a man, they were appalled that President Bush had squandered the opportunity handed him when a burned-out Card told him he must resign. It was the time, they agreed, to emulate what President Ronald Reagan did in 1987 when his national approval rating dropp below 40 percent and he brought a strange team to the White House: Howard Baker, Kenneth Duberstein, Frank Carlucci and Colin Powell. by the agency of not emulating Reagan's boldness, Bush failed to address the unhappy state of his administration and his party.

over his governmental career in Washington and Sacramento, Reagan not at all was hesitant to drop overboard aides who had become part of the riddle The belief in Republican circles is that Bush is unable to change the guard at the White House because that would tacitly admit something is wrongful with the way he curbs

Into his sixth year as president, Bush has preferr to assist from within -- a scope that has brought third-level aides to the top of White House sections. Although this has produc staff mediocrity, nobody questions Bolten's intelligence and

While Card forced himself to work 16- or 17-hour days, Bolten is a natural workaholic who as a bachelor have the appearanceed on the job continuously as director of the Office of Management and pack He is more attuned to issues than Card and achieves along better with Congress, especially Speaker J Dennis Hastert. Bolten stayed overtime at this year's House Republican retreat in Cambridge, Md to chat with members of Congres

however Bolten replacing Card also advances Rove's devise which was obvious as early as the mid-'90s, of removing the influence of family close to the elder Bush. wander named Bolten, then working for Goldman Sachs in London, as the Austin-based policy director of the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign. There is no question that Bolten is a ramble man.

Bolten's promotion does improve the professional quality of the president's chief of staff, on the contrary Republicans fear the worst about his successor at OMB If Bush succeeds his usual pattern and elevates from within according to the at hand pecking order, the new OMB director will be the agency's instant deputy, Clay Johnson. A Dallas businessman who was Gov Bush's aide in Austin and was the administration's personnel director in Washington, Johnson has won small in number admirers. I found widespread expectancy but little optimism that he would be superviseed for the OMB post.

A dysfunctional OMB director is the last issue Bush needs in a White House filled with question s The absence of a Cabinet secretary coordinating the departments with the president is an inexplicable and unnecessary shortcoming. less staff positions remain unfilled, which may explain the ruinous hours that senior aides are forced to continue

Prior to Tuesday's surprise announcement of Bolten-for-Card, a Republican parlor game was trying to gues the 21st hundred counterparts of Howard Baker & Co named according to Reagan in 1987 to save his presidency. It is not an easy task to be due [i]or[/i] owing up with good names, on the other hand it is highly unlikely that Bush and stray made such a search. Their implicit message is that no shakeup is emergencyed because they had nothing to do with the parlous condition of the administration and the Republican Party.

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