Karl Rove surprised a lot of people on Monday morning with the announcement that he'll leave the White House at the end of the month. It leaves the president without his main political architect as he heads into the final months of his term. The impact of that is still up for debate. But, even many of Rove's critics have to admit that he has an impressive track record. They say he's earned the nickname "Evil Genius." Of course, he's not likely to just disappear. Since his announcement, Rove has taken shots at Democrats in congress, predicted Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic nominee for president, and promised that he'd stay involved in politics. Don't be surprised if a book or two is in the works. How important was Rove to President Bush? Can he really be replaced? And what will Rove do next? We'll talk about it with Wayne Slater and Ken Rudin. And get into the Iowa straw poll, the new ad from Hillary Clinton, and the rest of the week's political news. There's so much going on, we'll super-size the political junkie today (the segment, not the Ken).
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Boys & Girls,
I was listening a few minutes ago to the Political Junkie segment and had to leave the room where the radio is to post his comment. the current discussion has the same weakness most of NPR coverage has had so far. 80% or more of the time is spent on the horse race. Please ! Issue comparison, voting record, experience, critical analysis of factual accuracy of claims and accusations.
Mark
When will mainstream media stop covering ridiculous stories about celebrities and sport scandals? Who cares bout any of this?????
I missed the last bit! Who was the last speaker of the house to stay on after leaving speakership?
I remember Bob Michael banging the gavel while drooling as the Republicans took over in '94. He'd been waiting so long for that, but he resigned that year.
So, my first guess is Dick Gephart, but also have an inkling for Tom Foley. Tip O'Neill? Nah.
Please be so kind as to fill me in on the answer. Political junkie needs his fix!
Brian,
Sorry you missed the answer. You are right, it wasn't Bob Michel -- he never made it to speaker, and in fact did not seek re-election in 1994, the year the GOP finally won the majority.
Dick Gephardt was never speaker either. Tom Foley was unseated in 1994. And Tip O'Neill retired in '86.
The answer: Massachusetts Republican Joseph Martin, who was speaker from 1953-54. When the GOP lost the majority after the '54 elections, Martin stayed on in Congress for another dozen years.
why dowsn`t the Political Junkie refresh all our memories(at least mine needs it) and tell us how vociferous Obama was in his opposition to the Iraq War
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