Spate of Good News Gives White House a Chance to Regroup

Rove's legal jeopardy had hung over the White House for many months as his colleagues contemplated life in the West Wing without him. Some Republican advisers outside the White House had long worried that Rove's problems were distracting him and had led to setbacks that might have been avoided if he were more fully engaged, such as the failed Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers or the battle over the Dubai port deal.

As part of Bolten's White House shakeup, Rove was relieved of day-to-day policy management duties to enable him to focus more on broader strategy and the midterm congressional elections.

Fellow Bush aides vigorously denied for months that Rove was distracted or was in any way responsible for the president's rocky road. But yesterday, they said he will clearly be more valuable now that the legal cloud has lifted.

"The other team thought they'd sacked the quarterback, and even if he came back he'd limp anyway," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and a Rove confidant, who had lunch with him yesterday. "Now he's back -- no limp." Switching metaphors, Norquist compared Rove to a bull that has been poked but not killed. "Not only is he in fine fettle, not only is he not wounded, he's pricked enough to be angry."

Rove tried to play down his own development. Having flown back to Washington on Monday night from a New Hampshire speech accusing Democrats of wanting to cut and run in Iraq, he showed up at the White House in time to run yesterday's 7:30 a.m. senior staff meeting, since Bolten was in Iraq with Bush.

As he went around the table soliciting updates on various issues, he made no mention of his legal case, nor did anyone else, according to several people in the room. Norquist said it did not come up during their lunch in the White House mess, either, as they discussed property rights. But Norquist said he did notice aides offering congratulations to Rove as they walked through the halls of the building.

Whether or not he had been distracted before, Rove can focus his attention entirely on the fall midterm elections, which are critical to the remainder of Bush's presidency. Norquist said he believes that after beating his legal woes, Rove will want to demonstrate that he is still "the toughest guy on the block."

If Republicans hold onto the House and Senate, Bush aides figure they have another chance to advance key priorities and shape the president's legacy. If Democrats win the House, the final two years of Bush's administration could be spent fighting rear-guard actions.

The White House took heart from the narrow victory of Brian Bilbray in a California special election to fill the House seat of fellow Republican Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who resigned after pleading guilty to taking $2.4 million in bribes. But it required enormous resources in a traditionally GOP-friendly district, and Republicans presumably need Bush to be performing better with the public to avoid significant losses. Even with his latest bounce, a standard-bearer in the high thirties is not much of an asset.

So the White House is taking a long view, both at home and in Iraq, betting that improvement will continue and trying not to get lost in the news of the moment, good or bad.