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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (18356)	4/1/2007 6:50:52 AM
From: E. T.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Ex-Bush political strategist details loss of faith in president Fellow Texan calls for Iraq pullout By Jim Rutenberg, New York Times News Service \| April 1, 2007 boston.com AUSTIN, Texas -- In 1999, Matthew Dowd became a symbol of George W. Bush's early success at positioning himself as a Republican with Democratic appeal. A top strategist for Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Bush, then governor of the Lone Star State, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Bush's political brain trust, and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president's chief campaign strategist. Looking back, Dowd now says his faith in Bush was misplaced. In an interview, he called for a withdrawal from Iraq and expressed his disappointment in Bush's leadership. Dowd criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus, and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq. He said he believed that the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and that Bush still approached governing with a "my way or the highway" mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides. "I really like him, which is probably why I'm so disappointed in things," he said, adding "I think he's become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in." In speaking out, Dowd became the first member of Bush's inner circle to break so publicly with him. He said his decision to step forward had not come easily. But, he said, his disappointment in Bush's presidency is so great that he feels a sense of duty to go public given his role in helping the commander in chief gain and keep power. Dowd, a crucial part of a team that cast Senator John F. Kerry as a flip-flopper who could not be trusted with national security during wartime, said he had even written but never submitted an op-ed article titled "Kerry Was Right," arguing that the senator , a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential candidate, was correct in calling last year for a withdrawal from Iraq. "I'm a big believer that in part what we're called to do . . . is to restore balance when things didn't turn out the way they should have," Dowd said. "Just being quiet is not an option when I was so publicly advocating an election." Dowd's journey from true believer to critic in some ways tracks the public arc of Bush's political fortunes. But it is also an intensely personal story of a political operative who at times, by his account, suppressed his doubts about his professional role, but then confronted them as he dealt with loss and sorrow in his own life. In the past several years, as he has gradually broken his ties with the Bush camp, one of Dowd's premature twin daughters died, he and his second wife divorced, and he watched his oldest son prepare for deployment as an Army intelligence specialist fluent in Arabic. Dowd said he had become so disillusioned with the war that he had considered whether to join street demonstrations against it, but his continued personal affection for the president had kept him from participating in protests to which anti-Bush fervor is central. Dowd, 45, said he hoped in part that by coming forward he would be able to get a message through to a presidential inner sanctum he views as increasingly isolated. But, he said, he holds out no great hope he will succeed. Dan Bartlett, White House counselor, said Dowd's criticism is reflective of the national debate over the war. "It's an issue that divides people," Bartlett said. "Even people that supported the president aren't immune from having their own feelings and emotions." He said he disagreed with Dowd's description of the president as isolated and with his position on troop withdrawal. But he said he was not surprised. Dowd has relayed the same sentiments to Bartlett in private conversations; they are friends. During the interview with Dowd on a slightly overcast afternoon in downtown Austin, he was a far quieter man than the cigar-chomping general he was during Bush's 2004 campaign.