Bush Aide Reveals Worry Over Loss of Adviser
   By Christopher Marquis

WASHINGTON, June 5 — Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff, is anguished over the announced
departure of the presidential adviser Karen P. Hughes, saying she had been an essential counterweight to Karl Rove,
a hard-charging and more ideological adviser, according to Esquire magazine.

In extensive remarks in the magazine's July issue, Mr. Card said Ms. Hughes's departure would deeply disrupt a
tenuous balance of power among President Bush's closest associates. "Listen, the president's in a state of denial
about what Karen's departure will mean, so is the first lady, and so is Karen herself," Mr. Card told Esquire.

"The whole balance of the place, the balance of what has worked up to now for George Bush, is gone, simply gone,"
he said. "My biggest concern? Want to know what it is? That the president will lose confidence in the White House staff. Because without her, we'll no longer be able to provide the president what he needs, what he demands."

Mr. Card's remarks are notable not only for what they reveal about the personal and ideological conflict within the
senior White House staff, but also because so few Bush advisers have been willing to talk openly about internal matters
in the highly disciplined Bush White House. Ms. Hughes, whose formal role involved overseeing White House
communications and speechwriting, is expected to return to Texas this summer so she can spend more time
with her "homesick" family.

Ms. Hughes, 45, who became one of the most powerful women ever to serve in the White House, has been an extremely
close confidante and friend of the president, and is seen as one of very few advisers willing to challenge him openly.
Ms. Hughes has maintained a "mystical bond" with Mr. Bush — with whom she speaks a dozen times a day — and
served as a pragmatic voice against the more partisan views of Mr. Rove, Esquire reported.
"The key balance around here has been between Karen and Karl Rove," Mr. Card said.

Mr. Rove told Esquire that Ms. Hughes usually won in their showdowns, saying, "For every 10 battles we've had,
she's won nine of them." He denied that his more conservative views would now hold sway. With Ms. Hughes gone,
Mr. Card fretted that he would be held responsible if the president's high approval ratings begin to slip.
Mr. Card mentioned a few officials who might mitigate the influence of Mr. Rove, including news media
and message advisers like Tucker Eskew, Dan Bartlett, Mary Matalin, Ari Fleischer and Michael Gerson.

"They are going to have to really step up, but it won't be easy," Mr. Card said. "Karl is a formidable adversary."

Mr. Bartlett, the White House communications director, said the writer of the Esquire piece, Ron Suskind,
had a "hyperactive imagination." He said the article was "not an accurate representation of this White House,"
but he did not deny that Mr. Card had made the comments.

 
 

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