The Disc That Told All

By John F. Dickerson Sunday, June 16, 2002
    • The Bush team likes to keep its secrets. But some embarrassing ones got out last week when a computer disc carrying White House political adviser Karl Rove's analysis of the 2002 elections was accidentally dropped in the streets of Washington and picked up by a surprised Democratic Senate staffer. The playbook confirmed much of what the Democrats have long suspected about an Administration that professes to be nonpolitical. A top strategy point advises Republican candidates to "focus on the war and economy," though the White House has said the war effort will not be used to win votes. A section that dissects key groups targeted by the President includes "coal and steel" states, offering support for Democratic charges that Bush is catering to those constituencies with his pro-industry decisions on air-pollution regulations and steel tariffs. A map of states that are "special concerns" neatly meshes with the states Bush has visited repeatedly to participate in events that aides insist have nothing to do with politics. Rove boasts in the presentation that the President's politicking has not hurt his standing with the public. At least, so long as the politics have stayed hidden.