WASHINGTON — When President Bush sought to coax Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan into the race for California governor, it was chief political strategist Karl Rove who quietly went to work.
When Bush considered closing the Navy bombing range in Puerto Rico, Rove helped push the decision along. And as Bush ponders the touchy issue of stem-cell research, it is Rove who is sounding out Catholic leaders.
The ascendance of the Texas transplant, who grew up with the president in Republican politics, speaks not just to their deep personal relationship. It also attests to the pervasiveness of the so-called permanent campaign--where seeking and holding political office become the same blur of polling, policy and positioning.
Bush ran for president decrying the constant campaign footing of the Clinton White House, an anti-Washington message fashioned by a Washington outsider: Rove.
Yet Rove now has emerged as one of the most powerful Washington insiders, an omnibus advisor whose portfolio ranges from state campaigns to national security to international affairs--with politics always the overriding concern. "There's nothing untouched by him or that he doesn't understand," said Mary Matalin, a cohort on the senior White House staff.
By straddling the divide between politics and policy in such obvious fashion, Rove has opened himself to personal attack, including recent questions about his financial dealings. He also has invited a more jaundiced view of the Bush White House.
"It basically begs to attach a political motivation to every policy decision," said Charles Cook, a nonpartisan election analyst.
More fundamentally, it also raises the question of how different this administration is from the much-derided one that preceded it. Rove was not available to comment Wednesday. But Matalin insisted that the contrast with the Clinton White House is stark. "It's not like we're people sitting around reading polls to make policy," she said. "Bush makes the policy."
Still, Rove's presence is everywhere.
Those who know the workings of the White House say Rove attends meetings on every manner of subject and hosts weekly brainstorming sessions with senior policy aides. He has a major say on the issues Bush takes up, as well as when and how the president addresses them.
'An Open-Ended Portfolio'
Devouring fresh polling data compiled every two to three weeks, Rove keeps up a constant stream of e-mail chatter with a far-flung network of political contacts across the country.
