strategist

Via FOX News

A 46-year-old top aide to House Republican Leader John Boehner died suddenly, reportedly from a heart attack, the minority leader announced Sunday.

"It is with profound sadness and shock that I announce the passing of Paula Nowakowski, my longtime chief of staff, trusted aide, and friend, who died suddenly last night. Words cannot adequately express the sorrow and disbelief I and every member of our team are grappling with today in the wake of this stunning news," Boehner said in a statement on his House leadership Web site.

"We will remember Paula as she would want to be remembered -- as a tireless worker, faithful friend, rabid Detroit sports fan, whip-smart strategist, warrior for freedom, and devoted Catholic who counted President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II among her greatest heroes. She will never be replaced, or forgotten," Boehner continued.

Only 46. What a shocker.

James Pethokoukis is scared that Daschle means the end of conservatism:

The GOP strategist had been joking about the upcoming presidential election and giving his humorous assessments of the candidates. Then he suddenly cut out the schtick and got scary serious. "Let me tell you something, if Democrats take the White House and pass a big-government healthcare plan, that's it. Game over. Government will dominate the economy like it does in Europe. Conservatives will spend the rest of their lives trying to turn things around and they will fail."

And it turns out that the fearsome harbinger of free-market doom is the mild-mannered ex-U.S. senator with the little, red glasses, Tom Daschle. He'll be the guy shepherding President Barack Obama's healthcare plan through Congress via his probable role as secretary of health and human services. At the core of Daschle's thinking on the subject is the creation of a "Federal Health Board that would resemble our current Federal Reserve Board" and ensure "harmonization across public programs of health-care protocols, benefits, and transparency." (Forget secretary of state, Hillary Clinton should shoot for chairman of Fed Health and run one seventh of the U.S. economy.) And the subject of that "harmonization" would be a $100 billion to $150 billion a year plan that would let individuals (and small businesses) buy insurance from private companies or from a government plan.

Ironically conservatives always pull out the “oh bad Europe” model when discussing the direction of America. That fact is that Europe is doing a lot better than the U.S. right now. But what really strikes me is how conservatives gawk over a $100 to $150 billion a year plan. They sure had no problem dumping that kind of money into a totally useless war. They sure don’t complain when the Pentagon continues to ask for more and more money every year. Yet when it comes to something that can provide a healthy and more productive workforce, they complain? Why do conservatives hate the American economy so much?

Healthcare costs are costing our economy business and jobs. That’s a proven fact. When companies have to fork out millions to insure their employees, that gives them less to pay their employees and cuts into the bottom line. In the manufacturing and service sector, those costs are also passed onto the consumer. Benefit costs actually account for close to 30% of compensation costs. Almost double that in Canada, where there is universal healthcare. And to rub salt into that wound, U.S. companies that move to Canada end up being able to pay their employees more, because they are saving so much money. That means that compensation costs are actually less to the north. Even GM CEO Rick Wagoner admits that healthcare alone adds about $1,500 to the cost of every car.

And it isn't siting well with some in the GOP:

"I think John is treading on some very thin ground here when he impugns motives and when we start to get into 'You're less patriotic than me. I'm more patriotic,' " Hagel said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I admire and respect John McCain very much. . . . John's better than that."

Now I know the wingnuts will quickly dismiss that as Hagel being a "RINO", but he isn't the only one. Apparently some who are closer to McCain aren't that happy either:

One GOP strategist with close ties to McCain's campaign said the new line of attack reflected the operation's "schizophrenic" nature. He said that tendency was also on display last week, as McCain spoke at length about media coverage of Obama rather than sticking with his plan to focus on the economy.

I say keep it up John. The more he sees that these attacks aren't working, the worse they will get. Before long America will see the real McCain - Mr. Hot Headed, temper tantrum McCain. Then it will really be fun.

Patrick Fitzgerald has met with attorney's of Matt Cooper to discuss Rove's
involvement with the leak case even more. Washington Post is reporting that
Fitzgerald is considering charging Rove with making false statements during the
investigation. This could happen in the next few weeks.

It may not take an indictment in the leak case to force Rove out of the White
House. This is from the same Washington Post article:

But some top Republicans said yesterday that Rove's problems may not end
there. Bush's top advisers are considering whether it is tenable for Rove to
remain on the staff, given that Fitzgerald has already documented something
that Rove and White House official spokesmen once emphatically denied --
that he played a central role in discussions with journalists about Plame's
role at the CIA and her marriage to former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, a
critic of the Iraq war.

"Karl does not have any real enemies in the White House, but there are a
lot of people in the White House wondering how they can put this behind them
if the cloud remains over Karl," said a GOP strategist who has discussed the
issue with top White House officials. "You can not have that [fresh] start
as long as Karl is there."

Full article

here

At the very least there seems to be a consensus at the White House that Rove
should at least issue an official apology for his involvement in the leak case.
This of course is not likely to happen with the investigation still going on.