http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/1793

Don't Fire Karl
Submitted by editor4 on November 9, 2005 - 3:10pm.
By John Dickerson
Source: Slate

For weeks, the city's permanent class has speculated about whether Patrick Fitzgerald would indict Karl Rove. If he does, then Rove will resign as Scooter Libby did. But as each day passes with no action from the special prosecutor, Rove is looking safer and safer. So, the lunchtime conversation has shifted. The question now is: What should President Bush do if his top political adviser is not indicted? Fifty-nine percent of Americans think Rove should resign from the White House. (The most amazing aspect of this: that 59 percent of Americans know who Rove is.) Only 36 percent of Americans "now believe that Bush has lived up to his campaign pledge to restore integrity to the White House."

So, will Bush fire Rove to try to improve public perceptions about his administration? Or will he continue to rely on Rove's advice and ignore his critics?

Administration officials who work intimately with Rove are making their own guesses. "It's never been clear how long Karl would stay," said one White House aide last week in an offhanded attempt to make it seem like Rove was mulling a 2005 departure long before things got so sticky. Others talk about how he really misses Texas. Another top aide joked that security guards will be dragging a BlackBerrying Rove out of the White House gates on Inauguration Day 2009. The gossip is high, but the truth is, no one knows what's going to happen. "We just assumed he'd be indicted because you all were writing it," admitted one senior administration official.

President Bushâ€â€