Rearranging the Deck Chairs?

"Buh-bye, Scotty."

The Nation's John Nichols :

"White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan could not resist adding a little irony to the session where it was announced that he was being fired -- er, stepping down -- as the chief spinner for the Bush administration.

" 'You have accomplished a lot over the last several years with this team,' McClellan said to President Bush.

"Yes, the team has accomplished so much that it is being systematically dismantled by new White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten at breakneck speed. With public support for the president's agenda dipping to Nixon-in-Watergate lows, and with even the Republican Congress breaking with the White House on major issues, Bolten -- who replaced ousted Chief of Staff Andy Card -- seems to have determined that the administration might need a new team.

"In addition to McClellan's exit Wednesday morning, Karl Rove was edged out of his position as deputy White House chief of staff for policy development. Rove's being delegated back to his old job of managing Republican campaigns from within the White House and at taxpayer expense.

"What next for the old team that helped the president 'accomplish' a 33 percent job approval rating?"

Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum looks to the successor:

"Press Secretary Scott McClellan, his credibility having been reduced to tatters long ago, is also stepping down. However, with speculation about Treasury Secretary John Snow's departure heating up, President Bush has apparently made the decision to conserve the number of people named Snow in his administration by offering Scotty's job to Fox News commentator Tony Snow. I don't know why Snow would accept a demotion like that, but that's the scuttlebutt."

Arianna Huffington reflects on Bush as the "decider":

"So, with Rummy, you decided not to accept his decision -- but with McClellan you did. Very decisive. Sorry, Scottie, I guess this means the president is just not that into you."

Power Line's John Hinderaker says McClellan's problem was that he wasn't rough enough with the press:

"I think McClellan has done a capable job, and it's probably wishful thinking to imagine that the President would appoint someone who would take a more combative attitude toward the White House press corps. To be fair, McClellan has sometimes pushed back. But I think there is a lot of room to take a more aggressive approach."

Captain Ed was ready for a new spokesman:

"McClellan's exit comes as no shock to anyone. He performed well enough, but lately has seemed either overmatched by the hostility of the White House press corps or just out of gas. The exchanges between McClellan and the gaggle have become increasingly personal, and the tension has not helped with getting the president's message out to the electorate. When the press secretary becomes the story for weeks on end, the communication process is broken.

"The bigger news to most people will be the announcement that Karl Rove will leave the policy portfolio behind and work exclusively on the upcoming elections. That hardly qualifies as a surprise, either. Rove formally took on policy only after the 2004 elections gave George Bush the last electoral victory of his political career. Most of us expected Rove to informally drop the policy-wonk persona once the 2006 primaries came close.

"This only makes that reassignment official. The GOP needs a fully-engaged Karl Rove in the election, especially since the polling has looked somewhat grim for the Republicans, at least nationally. With the party squabbling and a testy debate about to break out about the direction of the party, Rove can lend his formidable talents to bringing political unity among the factions."

In an even-numbered year, somehow I think Rove would be doing politics no matter what his job description.