Book review
James Moore and Wayne Slater's 'The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power'
By James Henson
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Snip...
In both books, Moore and Slater are careful to present evidence, but they make no bones about describing Rove as a man whose tactics range from the sophisticated use of up-to-the-minute campaign technology to the darker arts of rumor, innuendo, threats, stretched promises and the use of surrogates to maintain plausible deniability.
Much of what Moore and Slater write about will be familiar to anyone who follows politics in the daily papers. But they also cover ground that the mainstream news has tiptoed around, especially when it comes to the This Republican Party's exploitation of anti-gay sentiment. "The Architect" dedicates two chapters to the touchier side of this subject.
Chapter 5, "Not as I Say: Gay in the GOP," discusses prominent conservatives who have been rumored to be gay and declined to confirm or deny the charge; particular attention is paid to Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman. The subject has already been grist for blogs and gay publications, but it has been handled gingerly and rarely in the mainstream media. Moore and Slater take care not to apply labels or draw clear conclusions, instead reporting on the reporting of others. They seem to conclude — reasonably, I think — that because Republicans have made gay identity a national issue, reporting such ambiguity is fair.
In Chapter 9, "A Few Simple Questions: What's in Karl's Closet?," the authors draw on interviews with gay acquaintances of Rove's stepfather, Louis Rove, as well as an interview with a circumspect Karl Rove, to reveal that Louis was openly gay after getting divorced from Rove's mother. The chapter jabs hard at Rove, pointing out that Louis Rove, who was clearly Rove's primary father figure, died in Palm Springs just as "his son was in the midst of launching the antigay issues campaign that was to lead to the re-election of George W. Bush."
Snip...
Rove is credited as the brains behind all of this and more, so much so that the book's relentless focus on his impact on American politics becomes essentially a dark version of the "Great Man" approach to history. But Rove might be better understood as the right guy in the right place at the right time. This isn't to denigrate his intelligence or determination; someone less capable than Rove would not have recognized or responded so effectively to changes in the political system, such as the decline of the Democrats among white male voters. But other people helped create and implement many of the tactics and strategies Slater and Moore describe. The rise of Christian conservatives, for example, can be attributed to the work of Jerry Falwell, Ralph Reed and many others, several of whom are discussed in "The Architect" but cast in supporting roles seemingly dependent on Rove.
It's only toward the end that Moore and Slater acknowledge that The Architect's "Master Plan" has not withstood the elements. Rove and Slater write of "a larger architecture . . . crumbling at the base" in the past two years. The stretching of the metaphor suggests the authors have similarly stretched the evidence of Rove's omniscience. Rove clearly missed the wave of anti-immigration fervor among the Republican base in the South and Midwest, which has roiled his carefully built coalition. Similarly, he has been powerless to halt the plunge in the president's popularity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the quagmire of Iraq and skepticism about progress in the struggle against al Qaeda.
more...
http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/books/09/02/2rove.htmlThis cartoon from Harpers seem appropriate:
Rove (and Bush) brought to power by deception, corruption, smear, cronyism and media complicity.
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