Rearranging the Chairs

Here's what Tim Russert had to say about the mood in the White House on NBC's Today Show this morning: "Some people are very very nervous, very depressed; others are more cautious."

Personnel Moves?

Ken Herman writes for Cox News Service that "in a potential separation once considered as inconceivable as Sonny without Cher, Bush faces the prospect of navigating the most challenging part of his political career without Rove at his side. . . .

"Those close to Bush and Rove are squeamish about talking on the record about the sensitive situation involving their friends in the White House.

" 'It's a hypothetical,' the adviser said of the possibility that it could happen. 'Unfortunately it's a very real hypothetical.' "

Donna Cassata writes for the Associated Press that "one White House official, noting that Bush's senior staff is tired of the long hours and increasing pressure, has told colleagues it might be best if everyone closest to the president resign and clear the way for new blood and fresh perspectives.

"White House chief of staff Andrew Card has been on the job since January 2001, a mark of longevity for Bush compared with Presidents Reagan and Clinton, who each had four chiefs of staff through two terms. Even Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, had three chiefs of staff in four years as president."

John D. McKinnon and Christopher Cooper write in the Wall Street Journal: "With special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald appearing close to indicting top White House officials in the CIA leak investigation, the probe is likely to accelerate second-term turnover in the Bush administration."

The big question, McKinnon and Cooper write, "is whether Mr. Bush will continue relying on his loyal inner circle or will have to reach out to Republican leaders elsewhere to help rebuild his administration's credibility.

"Given Mr. Bush's tendency to promote from within, some experts say it is probable that the president will stay the course. They say that if Mr. Rove has to go, it is likely that Mr. Bush will seek to bring in someone with a long track record of serving him, such as Ken Mehlman, his former political director and now chairman of the Republican National Committee. Also mentioned is Ed Gillespie, the former party chairman who recently shepherded the Supreme Court nomination of Chief Justice John Roberts.

"Other possible replacements for Messrs. Rove or Card include Donald Evans, former Commerce secretary and a longtime Bush friend from Texas; Josh Bolten, an aide of long tenure who is Mr. Bush's budget director; Clay Johnson, a top management official in the budget office; Karen Hughes, his former communications chief who is now a top State Department official; and Marc Racicot, a former RNC chairman."

Talking with Lou Dobbs, former presidential adviser David Gergen said Thursday on CNN: "I'll tell you what Ronald Reagan did in a somewhat different circumstance. . . . And that is, when the wheels came off for him on . . . the Iran Contra affair, halfway through his second term, and looked like he couldn't govern for a while, you know what he did?

"He cleaned house. He brought in a whole new team. He brought in Howard Baker and Ken Duberstein and Colin Powell and some others to form and put together a new team in the White House. He got a fresh start."