Karl Rove Resigns

President Bush made the announcement this morning. "Karl Rove is moving on down the road," he said, appearing on the White House's South Lawn with Mr. Rove at his side. "We've been friends for a long time and we're still going to be friends ... I'll be on the road behind you here in a bit," he said.

The ostensible reason for Rove's exit was family.

"I just think it's time," Mr. Rove said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. "There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family." Mr. Rove and his wife Darby make their home in Ingram, Texas, and have a son who attends college in nearby San Antonio.

In the interview, he also predicted that the Democrat nominee will be Senator Hillary Clinton, whom he described as a "a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate." He also said Republicans have "a very good chance" to hold onto the White House in next year's elections.

So why did Rove really resign?

The real question is who's idea it was. I think it was Rove's.

To my mind, Rove simply felt he'd had enough of Washington. We are in the tail end of a lame duck administration, he was tired of being a prime Democrat target, and as the GOP campaigns move forward, he probably wanted the freedom to hitch himself to a new wagon if the opportunity offers itself. Also, being out of government, he's free to make some serious cash from a book deal without any problems about conflict of interest.

Of course, the reason could also be that Rove knows that an impeachment attempt against President Bush is in the future, and he'd rather put some `plausible denial' distance between himself and the White House.

Just before the August recess, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued a subpoena for Rove to force him to testify before the panel about his role in the firings of several U.S. attorneys. Bush claimed executive privilege to prevent Rove from appearing before the Senate.

There are also other ongoing probes, like the one by Democrat pitbull Henry Waxman's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, investigating whether administration officials used federal resources for political purposes. Karl Rove also figures in that one.

With Rove out of the White House, these and other investigations aren't going to stop, but since he's already gone, they may very likely lose focus. In addition, as a private citizen, Rove is in position to be make a deal to be granted immunity for his testimony in the unlikely event the nasty stuff hits the fan....say, in impeachment proceedings. A long shot, but possible.

Then again...maybe Rove really was just tired of Washington, wanted to spend time with his family, work on that book deal and especially, concentrate on defeating the Democrats in 2008.

Undoubtedly, we shall see...

There's one thing for certain. The Democrats are bat-guano petrified of this man and wetting themselves at the thought of him getting involved in the 2008 campaign.With his White House duties behind him, he's now free to concentrate on that little endeavor full time.