Maybe I am naïve. Maybe once you reach a certain level of power or notoriety, you just don’t care anymore. However, I find it hard to believe that Bush, Rove and Cheney have not surrounded themselves with the best consultants money can buy. Too bad they don’t take their advice.
You don’t get to Karl Rove’s position by being politically inept. But he seemed to make a rookie mistake at last week’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. When confronted by Sheryl Crow and Laurie David on environmental issues, the President’s deputy chief of staff lashed out. In a room full of reporters. At an event that has, in the past few years, been covered heavily in the news media. In my humble opinion, that is not a good move.
In addition to being surrounded by the media’s most powerful eyes and ears, with today’s technology, no matter where or who you are, whatever you say can feasibly wind up online in some form. This is especially true if you’re seen as the shadowy puppet-master of the current presidential administration.
Of course, Crow and David reported on the incident on the Huffington Post web site, and then gave numerous interviews. Granted, Rove probably felt that it was not an appropriate venue to be confronted on policy issues. But if you’re in the public eye, you should try and keep your cool. Rove, and his handlers, should know this. After all, just last month rapping Rove turned up on YouTube. Nothing happens behind closed doors anymore and if you want to be successful, you have to remember that.
Maybe Rove is just tired from defending the administration’s actions. Or cranky that the media keeps picking on his buddy Bush. Whichever it is, I am sure his communications people are cringing and hoping McCain breaks out into song again soon.
